A high court judge has temporarily halted a controversial loyalist parade along a nationalist street in Portadown, urging all parties to step back from the brink and make responsible decisions for the sake of Northern Ireland.
The ruling comes amid fears that the parade could trigger fresh sectarian violence.
Following a five-hour hearing at a special high court sitting, Justice Smyth issued an order temporarily suspending the parade, originally scheduled for 8am Sunday, until a judicial review can be fully heard.
She also suspended the Parades Commission’s Friday determination that the event could proceed with numerical restrictions.
Tensions persist, however, as loyalists have appealed her decision, with a second special hearing scheduled for Saturday night.
Smyth reached her conclusions after multiple attempts to broker a voluntary agreement between the Loyalist Orange Order and the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition.
When that proved impossible, she stated: “The level of mistrust between residents and Portadown Loyalist Lodge cannot be overstated. Neither side accepts any of the reassurances of the other.”
The march down Garvaghy Road has been banned for 28 years following widespread sectarian violence outside Drumcree church in 1998.
“It is also clear to me that this particular long-running dispute has the potential to escalate within Northern Ireland,” she said.
The court convened on Saturday following a last-minute legal challenge by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition.
Smyth urged the parties to reach a voluntary agreement to delay the march, noting that few had time to digest the reasoning behind the Commission’s decision.
She stressed the importance of reaching an agreement “for the sake of everyone in Northern Ireland, not just for your sake,” ensuring issues are “properly aired” so that “everybody knows they’ve had a fair hearing.”
“Be big enough to step back from the abyss,” she told the parties in court.
This followed a high court ruling quashing restrictions on the annual parade route.
The Portadown loyalist Orange Lodge was not represented at the hearing. However, after the judge requested its view through the individual who had sought permission for the parade, the lodge made clear it would not agree to suspending the procession.
Fears of clashes increased on Saturday after a request to the Commission for permission for a countermarch, initially estimated to draw up to 5,000 people but later revised to 300, the court heard.
On Friday night, Prime Minister Andy Burnham appealed to leaders to “work calmly” through the weekend, while Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant called for “cool heads,” noting that Northern Ireland had “withstood many moments of sharp disagreement over the years” and must do so again.
Before her ruling, Smyth asked the parties in court, including the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) and the Parades Commission, to “consider carefully the very important issues to our society” raised in the case, noting the importance of proper handling given the “importance of this case to community relations.”
She also noted that the judicial review issues were of “such fundamental importance” that holding a full hearing without all the facts could be unwise.
Democratic Unionist MP Carla Lockhart insisted nationalist residents had “nothing to fear” from Sunday’s march, but Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald described the decision as “utterly reckless.”
The Parades Commission placed restrictions on the procession, including an 8am start and a limit of 35 participants, but imposed no restrictions on the route.
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