Court suspends approval for Orange Order parade on Garvaghy Road
A Belfast High Court judge paused the Parades Commission’s decision pending a full judicial review, as loyalists appealed and concerns grew over a proposed countermarch.
A Belfast High Court judge has temporarily suspended the Parades Commission’s approval for an Orange Order parade along Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Justice Smyth’s order pauses the decision until a full judicial review can be heard.
The ruling followed a five-hour hearing on a challenge by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition. The commission had allowed the parade to proceed at 8am on Sunday, with participation limited to 35 people. The judge said the parties could not agree to delay it and described mistrust between residents and the Portadown Loyalist Lodge as deep.
Loyalists appealed the suspension, with a special hearing due on Saturday night. The outcome was not reported.
Concern about possible clashes also followed a request for permission to hold a countermarch. An estimate of up to 5,000 attendees was later revised to 300; whether the protest would proceed remained unclear.
The route through a mainly nationalist area had been banned for 28 years after sectarian violence near Drumcree church in 1998. Political leaders called for calm. Democratic Unionist MP Carla Lockhart said residents had “nothing to fear”, while Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called the commission’s decision “utterly reckless”.
