Belfast court temporarily blocks Orange Order march on Garvaghy Road
A Belfast High Court judge has temporarily suspended a loyalist parade through a nationalist area of Portadown, urging both sides to step back amid fears of renewed sectarian violence.
Following a five-hour special sitting, Belfast High Court Justice Smyth issued an order temporarily halting a contested loyalist march through Portadown that had been scheduled for 8am Sunday, pending a full judicial review hearing.
The judge also suspended Friday's ruling by the Parades Commission, which had approved the parade while limiting participant numbers but leaving the route unrestricted. Loyalists plan to challenge Smyth's decision at a second special hearing set for Saturday night.
Saturday's court sitting followed a last-minute legal challenge from the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition. Smyth repeatedly tried to broker a voluntary agreement between the Orange Order's Portadown lodge and the residents' group, but the two sides could not reach one. She described the mistrust between them as severe, noting neither accepted the other's assurances.
The march route has been banned for 28 years following major sectarian violence in 1998 near Drumcree church. Smyth warned the long-running dispute risked escalating tensions across Northern Ireland and urged all parties to "step back from the abyss" for the wider good of the region.
The Portadown lodge was not represented at the hearing but, asked for its position, made clear it would not agree to delaying the parade. Concerns over potential clashes grew after a request for a countermarch estimated at up to 5,000 people, a figure later revised down to 300.
UK prime minister Andy Burnham and Northern Ireland secretary Chris Bryant both called for calm over the weekend. Reactions split along political lines: DUP MP Carla Lockhart said residents had "nothing to fear" from Sunday's march, while Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called the original approval decision "utterly reckless".
