Orange Order Parade Halted After Injunction Granted - BBC News
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Appeal underway after judge bans Drumcree parade
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: The parade (pictured above in 2018 on a 20th anniversary protest) has been halted due to a temporary injunction being granted at the High Court in Belfast.
By Michael Fitzpatrick and Catherine Doyle, BBC News NI
Published 26 September 2026, 00:07 BST Updated 22 minutes ago
An appeal is underway against a High Court ruling banning Portadown Orangemen from marching along the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.
On Friday, the Parades Commission announced that the Orange Order parade could proceed for the first time in almost 30 years with restrictions in place.
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition (GRRC) had mounted a legal challenge to the decision, and on Saturday afternoon a High Court judge issued an injunction halting the march.
The decision is being appealed, with an emergency court sitting underway. This came after Portadown District Orange Lodge declined a request from Judge Patricia Smyth to postpone the parade until all issues were properly considered.
Judge Smyth, who has been hearing the legal challenge to the Parades Commission's decision, said the temporary injunction would apply until the judicial review application could be properly determined.
A lawyer for the Orange Order member, who was a respondent in the case, indicated he intended to appeal the decision, which is being heard at the High Court.
A large crowd of residents and supporters have gathered at the Drumcree Centre off the Garvaghy Road as the Orange Orders appeal gets underway. Earlier, Sínn Féin ministers Caoimhe Archibald and Liz Kimmons were among politicians who turned up to show support.
'Potential to escalate'
The basis of the review was on the PSNI's risk assessment to the Parades Commission.
Lawyer Denise Kiley KC for the residents told the High Court hearing that "much remains uncertain" in the wake of the ruling. She claimed that "nowhere" in the PSNI's contribution to the commission was there "any assessment of future risk" and was "entirely directed to past risk".
"That all leads to a requirement for more time and for the Parades Commission to explain the discrepancy that is apparent on the face of the documents," she said.
Delivering her decision to issue an injunction, Judge Smyth said "the level of mistrust" between residents and the lodge cannot be "overstated."
"It is also clear to me that this particular long running dispute has the potential to escalate within Northern Ireland," she added. "Against that backdrop I am thoroughly of the view the issues of all three parties must be properly ventilated."
Afterwards GRRC spokesperson Breandan Mac Cionnaith said that "this isn't over yet." He told supporters in a crowd of several hundred outside the High Court not to be "triumphalist." But, he added, "we're halfway there."
Reacting to developments, DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP said unionists would await the court's decision and expect "all parties to respect the legal process."
"The Orangemen of Portadown have conducted themselves with dignity and respect for the rule of law for 28 years. If they must wait for further deliberation, be it 28 days, they will do so with their heads held high and dignity intact," he said.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna MP said Drumcree "carries a history and a meaning that cannot be ignored." She welcomed that the heat had been taken out of this difficult situation.