DUP MP 'dumbfounded' at lack of resignations over Drumcree parade court case

A Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP has said she is "dumbfounded" that Parades Commission members have not "already voluntarily resigned" following a court ruling over one of Northern Ireland's most contentious parades.

The High Court quashed a decision to impose restrictions on the annual parade at Drumcree outside Portadown on Tuesday.

The commission had banned this year's paradefrom the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road - a move which reflected every decision it has made since 1998.

Carla Lockhart, DUP, said there would be a fresh application to parade. Sinn Féin's John O'Dowd said it was "completely beyond me" as to why the DUP and Orange Order and others were "refighting this battle".

Lockhart, the Upper Bann MP, told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster on Wednesday: "The current commissioners must go and for me that is the starting point."

She added: "I am actually dumbfounded that they haven't already voluntarily resigned, but we are now calling on the secretary of state to exercise his rights to ensure that they are removed."

Lockhart said that collectively with fellow unionists "we have asked for the immediate removal of the commissioners, given all that has gone before, all that has been revealed in this ruling, we have asked for an independent review into the very structures, the governance, the accountability of the Parades Commission."

The legal challenge was brought by a member of the Orange Order.

The Parades Commission has said the High Court's decision "does not affect any future considerations and decisions by the commission of future parades or protests".

A Northern Ireland Office (NIO) spokesperson said Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant will meet the Parades Commission chair "as a priority" to assess the actions needed to strengthen its procedures.

"The Parades Commission has a challenging role regarding parades in Northern Ireland. It is vital that the public has confidence in its decision-making process."

O'Dowd, a Sinn Féin assembly member for Upper Bann, said on Wednesday that any resignations by Parades Commission members were a matter for the commissioners and for the secretary of state.

"At the end of the day, whether this group of commissioners resigns or stay the fact of the matter is this, a fresh determination will have to be made," he said.

O'Dowd said the Parades Commission had been in court "many, many times over its rulings and has been legally tested many, many times so their processes and legislation is robust".

"On this occasion it appears that the commission didn't carry out its processes properly, but that does not mean the decision was wrong, because the 27 decisions made before that all came to the same conclusion there is no requirement for an Orange Order march through the Garvaghy Road," he added.

In 1998, the Parades Commission ruled that the Orange Order should not march down Portadown's Garvaghy Road on the end leg of its annual march from Drumcree Church.

It was a move that ultimately led to a decades-long parading dispute, sparking some of the most serious public disorder in Northern Ireland's history.

Stand-offs continued in subsequent years as members of the Order walked to police barricades in protest at the restrictions. Protests were also held by residents living along the Garvaghy Road.

The High Court was told on Tuesday that the commission conceded the case last week and requested the court quash its determination before a full hearing.

The commission conceded a procedural error in how it dealt with the annual application for permission to walk along the Garvaghy Road.

Not all six members of the public authority had signed off on the final determination before it was issued last month.

Lawyers representing the local Orangeman claimed the commission's latest decision unlawfully breached his rights to freedom of belief, expression and peaceful assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Lawyers for the applicant also argued that Garvaghy Road residents had refused talks with the Orange Order and the commission breached legislation by making it "a pre-requisite to a parade".

The Parades Commission said it "welcomes scrutiny and accountability".

The Northern Ireland secretary said on Tuesday that it was "really important that the Parade's Commission carries the respect of all communities in Northern Ireland, otherwise it simply can't function".

Sir Chris said he had not read the "precise terms" of what has been said, but added that he was "concerned that it looks as if the Parades Commission have not got things right here".

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said the ruling made "the position of the current commissioners untenable".

Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who was involved in bringing the case, said on Wednesday that the parade in Portadown was "always unfinished business for the loyal orders, it was always an injustice".

"Before we even get to a new application, certainly a number of these commissioner positions are unsustainable," he said.

Bryson said it was a "very important parade", but that no-one is "asking for a parade which resembles 1995, 1996, 1997, they simply want to complete their traditional parade to get their bannerette home".

Former SDLP assembly member for Upper Bann, Dolores Kelly, said she believed "the commission on this case has dropped the ball".

However, she said the Parades Commission "decision over the last number of years has been the right decision".

"But let's not overplay the outcome, the outcome is simply that the commission was found to not have followed procedure guidelines.

"It's nothing new for unionism to call for the parades commission to resign."