High Court upholds Chris Bryant's ban on Drumcree Orange Order parade as lawful

The ruling

Mr Justice Scoffield ruled at Belfast High Court on Wednesday, 28 October, that the Secretary of State's ban on the Drumcree Orange Order parade was lawful. The judge said the decision sat within the margin of discretion properly afforded to Chris Bryant, though he called it highly regrettable that it had been required. The challenge had been brought by a member of the Orange Order and targeted both Bryant's intervention and the role of PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher. At the hearing the court heard arguments over the "legality of the decision-making route" used to halt the march, while counsel for Bryant argued he could have taken "no other decision".

“The Secretary of State's decision was lawful and within the margin of discretion properly afforded to him”

The judge also said those opposed to the parade should take no particular joy in the outcome, and that the position reached had come at very significant cost to people in Northern Ireland, financially through the diversion of police resources and in terms of community relations. The challenging side told the court it would in all likelihood appeal.

How the stand-off unfolded

The Parades Commission gave permission on 27 September for the parade to complete its traditional route along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, the first time in almost 30 years. Large crowds gathered on the road in opposition, and police assessed that officers could not safely escort the marchers while those crowds remained. Orangemen stayed on Drumcree Hill for almost two weeks, repeatedly approaching the police line to make their case. Chris Bryant stepped in on 9 October, after hosting talks with both sides that failed to produce an agreed resolution, and banned the parade.

The Irish Times reports that the Chief Constable, who had asked for a review, said all options short of a "substantial public order intervention" had been exhausted, carrying an "unacceptable risk of serious injury, disorder and a wider contagion effect". The court also heard PSNI intelligence that dissidents may have mounted gun attacks on police had officers cleared a path for the parade. Drumcree was a flashpoint in the 1990s, when it led to widespread violence and death.

What the poll found

A More In Common poll of 1,019 adults, conducted online, found 53% of people in Northern Ireland said Chris Bryant was right to block the parade. Among voters, 91% of Sinn Féin supporters, 84% of SDLP voters and 81% of Alliance voters backed the decision, while a majority of unionist voters disagreed. The same 53% said the Parades Commission was wrong to allow the march on Garvaghy Road. Protestants were divided, with 54% saying the ban was wrong and 28% saying it was right.

Some 82% said ending the stand-off without violence mattered to them, and that wish was shared across religion and political affiliation. Voting intention also moved, with Sinn Féin rising from 25% in July to 30% in October, while the DUP went from 17% to 18%. The survey found Sinn Féin the main political beneficiary of the fallout, while the DUP remains the main party of unionism.

Sinn Féin voters91%

SDLP voters84%

Alliance voters81%

Sinn Féin voters

91 %

SDLP voters

84 %

Alliance voters

81 %

Data from the article text

Investigation and unionist reaction

A police investigation is under way into potential breaches of the Parades Commission determination. First Minister Michelle O'Neill, along with a number of Sinn Féin and People Before Profit representatives, has been interviewed voluntarily by officers. The poll also found that unionist voters judged the ban harshly, with 85% of TUV voters, 76% of DUP voters and 55% of UUP voters saying the decision was wrong.