Crowds braved heavy rain in Portadown on Sunday morning as they gathered at the scene of the contentions Drumcree parade.
asserted
they → brave → parade
The crowds, many of them wearing balaclava, clustered in large groups along Garvaghy Road in the hours leading up to the scheduled start of the parade at 8am.
asserted
many → wear → am
The march was finally given the go ahead at a hearing which concluded at 2.15am on Sunday after legal teams repeated their arguments over the contentious parade, which was a notorious flashpoint of the Troubles in the 90s.
asserted
which → give → 90s
The time-limited sitting beginning at 12.20am on Sunday was heard before Justice Michael Humphreys.
asserted
sitting → limit → Humphreys
He acknowledged the “unusual if not unprecedented circumstances as it is now 1.45am, with a parade scheduled to begin in just over six hours’ time”.
asserted
parade → acknowledge → time
Outlining his decision, Mr Justice Humphreys cited case law that as a public body the courts must respect its judgment and “their decisions will not be lightly interfered with”.
asserted
decisions → outline → judgment
He said: “The picture painted here is of a public body which took evidence from the relevant sources, weighed up the key issues which were in play and arrived at a reasoned decision.
asserted
which → say → decision
“The jurisdiction to impugn (a) public body’s decision on that basis is necessarily limited to cases where no reasonable decision could arrive at that outcome and in my view, in this case that threshold has not been met.
uncertain
threshold → impugn → case
He added: “This court cannot substitute its own view or anyone else’s view for that of the commission.”
asserted
court → add → commission
Northern Ireland’s most senior judge, Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan, described the situation as “unprecedented”.
asserted
judge → describe → situation
Justices Keegan and Humphreys joined Lady Justice Denise McBride in the Court of Appeal which, in the late hours of Saturday, upheld an appeal by Portadown Orangeman Alan Hynes to allow the march to go ahead.
asserted
march → join → Hynes
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.
asserted
parade → make → operation
The Orange Order has unsuccessfully applied for more than a quarter of a century to complete its 1998 walk along its traditional route.
asserted
Order → apply → route
Read More
On Friday, the commission reversed its long-running determination, to the welcome of unionist parties and outrage of nationalist and republican parties.
asserted
commission → read → parties
On Saturday afternoon, Justice Patricia Smyth blocked the commission’s decision, saying the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate” across Northern Ireland.
asserted
dispute → block → Ireland
Under the legal framework around parades in Northern Ireland, if the court simply passed an injunction against the Parades Commission ruling in relation to Drumcree, it would allow the Portadown District to carry out the parade without the restrictions outlined by the commission, because it was legally notified.
asserted
it → pass → commission
Justice Smyth passed an injunction pausing the effect of the Orange Order’s notification of the parade, which counsel for the Garvaghy residents had described as “novel” and John Larkin KC, representing Mr Hynes, as “rewriting history”.
asserted
counsel → pass → history
The Orange Order then lodged an appeal, which was upheld, before the case was remitted to the High Court and heard again before a new judge.
asserted
case → lodge → judge
Barrister Denise Kiley KC represented the residents of the largely nationalist Garvaghy Road, outlining their position that much remained unclear about the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI)’s threat assessment provided to the Parades Commission.
She said “nowhere” in the PSNI’s contribution to the commission was there “any assessment of future risk” and was “entirely directed to past risk”.
uncertain
assessment → represent → risk
Emma McIlveen, junior counsel for Mr Hynes, argued the Orange Order “has gone to great lengths to engage on the ground in the community”.
asserted
Order → argue → community
Ms McIlveen also said it is an issue of the protection of minority rights, describing it as a “hecklers’ veto situation” where “those that scream the loudest get what they want”.
asserted
they → say → what
Ms Kiley argued the imposition of the injunction “does not mean that this parade cannot proceed, it means it cannot proceed tomorrow”.
asserted
it → argue → injunction
She added: “The only way to preserve the position for this applicant and to preserve the supervisory position of this court was to grant interim relief and it was granted as a last resort.”
asserted
it → add → resort
Tony McGleenan KC, representing the Parades Commission, said the court’s move to “deem a notified parade unnotified” was “entirely unprincipled”.
asserted
parade → represent → Commission
“It’s not who threatens the most, it’s that there’s an assumption in favour of legal assembly,” he said.
asserted
he → ’ → assembly
“We cannot have every Parade Commission determination brought back into this court every week, that’s not how it is supposed to work.”
asserted
it → have → court
Justice Keegan earlier said “there is a major problem that the decision in this case was given after 2pm on a Friday afternoon.
asserted
decision → say → afternoon
“This cannot happen again.”
asserted
This → happen → ?
The Aporia
