Belfast's Court of Appeal has overturned a High Court injunction that barred the Orange Order from marching down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown on Sunday.
At a sitting of the Court of Appeal at 11.30pm on Saturday, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the High Court judge who granted the injunction had “unfortunately erred in law”.
Background to the dispute
Residents of the largely nationalist area had launched an appeal against the Parades Commission ruling permitting the Orange Order to walk down the street on Sunday for the first time in 30 years.
On Saturday, Justice Patricia Smyth blocked the commission decision, saying the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate” across Northern Ireland.
Decades of tension
The stand-off at Drumcree made headlines in the 1990s, with nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road opposed to the parade passing through the area, leading to violent clashes for several summers and political tension necessitating a major security operation.
The Orange Order has unsuccessfully applied for more than a quarter of a century to complete its 1998 walk along its traditional route.
On Friday, the commission reversed its long-running determination, to the welcome of unionist parties and outrage of nationalist and republican parties.
Ruling and next steps
Delivering her ruling on Saturday, Ms Smyth said: “The level of mistrust between the residents and the Portadown Orange lodge cannot be overstated.
“It’s also clear to me that this particular long-running dispute has the potential to escalate within Northern Ireland.”
In the early hours of Sunday morning, Justice Keegan was deciding whether the case can be remitted back to High Court for a further hearing.
