Northern Ireland’s High Court on Sunday rejected a fresh bid to stop the Orange Order parade on Portadown’s Garvaghy Road, allowing it to proceed. Friday’s Parades Commission decision overturned a ban on the route that had lasted nearly 30 years.
Residents opposing the Commission’s decision secured a temporary injunction on Saturday, but the Court of Appeal vacated it before the High Court dismissed their fresh application. The Commission capped the parade at 35 marchers, barred supporters and bands, and stipulated a start by 8 a.m. and finish by 9:30 a.m. The route had been banned in 1998.
A crowd protested on Garvaghy Road early Sunday. A social-media video showed First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald there; McDonald said efforts to prevent a new united Ireland would fail. DUP MP Carla Lockhart said nationalist politicians should abide by the law and let the parade pass.
