High Court upholds Bryant’s Drumcree parade ban

Belfast High Court has dismissed a legal challenge to Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant’s ban on the Drumcree Orange Order parade, ruling that his decision was lawful and within his discretion. Justice Scoffield said the circumstances that led to the ban were regrettable and had come at significant cost to Northern Ireland, including through diverted police resources and effects on community relations. He said the threat of serious and widespread disorder had featured prominently in the case, and stressed that the ruling should not be a cause for celebration by those opposed to the parade. The challenge was brought by Alan Hynes, a member of Portadown District Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1, against Bryant’s intervention and the role of PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher. The court found the Chief Constable’s referral of the matter to the Secretary of State lawful. It also concluded that Bryant could determine that changed circumstances meant the Parades Commission’s earlier decision could no longer provide legal cover for the procession. The Parades Commission had authorised a parade along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road, a route it had not permitted since 1998. After...