Orange Order parade begins amid security fears after late-night ruling as crowds block Garvaghy Road ahead of first march in nearly 30 years

The controversial Orange Order parade is to go ahead this morning for the first time in nearly 30 years after a late-night ruling. 

An 'unprecedented' sitting of the High Court in Belfast upheld a ruling by the Parades Commission permitting the march on Garvaghy Road. 

But thousands of protesters gathered in the rain just minutes before the Protestant parade was due to begin in Portadown.

They linked arms and sang songs in an attempt to block the march as an announcement over a loudspeaker told them that they were liable for arrest for taking part in an unnotified parade.

Armoured vehicles have arrived and police are operating checkpoints on the main roads into Portadown. 

An information sheet is being handed to drivers, reports the BBC, which reads: 'You are entitled to disagree with the procession and to make your views known peacefully.

'The procession has been permitted by a determination of the Parades Commission. People taking part in it also have a right to do so peacefully and safely.'

The crowds, many of them wearing balaclavas, clustered in large groups along Garvaghy Road in the hours leading up to the scheduled start of the parade at 8am.

Nationalists protest against the Orange Order parade ahead of the march in Portadown, Northern Ireland

The crowds, many of them wearing balaclavas, clustered in large groups along Garvaghy Road

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald and First Minister Michelle O'Neill were among the party members to join the protest.

Speaking to reporters, O'Neill said: 'There must be no march through this community. That is how we restore calm, that is how we restore confidence.

She added: 'Why after 28 years of determination to block a march down this road that the Parades Commission thought this was the right idea today? To bring this mess back onto this community.'

"I commend this community. We stand with this community and we will continue to stand with this community.'

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.

The time-limited sitting beginning at 12.20am on Sunday was heard before Justice Michael 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'.

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'.

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.

'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.'

He added: 'This court cannot substitute its own view or anyone else's view for that of the commission.'

Northern Ireland's most senior judge, Lady Chief Justice Siobhan Keegan, described the situation as 'unprecedented'.

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.

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.

The Orange Order has unsuccessfully applied for more than a quarter of a century to complete its 1998 walk along its traditional route.

On Friday, the commission reversed its long-running determination, to the welcome of unionist parties and outrage of nationalist and republican parties.

Thousands of protesters gathered in the rain where they linked arms and sang songs in an attempt to block the parade 

Breandán Mac Cionnaith, head of The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, speaks through a loudspeaker at the front line of the protest

On Saturday afternoon, Justice Patricia Smyth blocked the commission's decision, saying the 'long-running dispute has the potential to escalate' across Northern 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.

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'.

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.

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'.

Emma McIlveen, junior counsel for Mr Hynes, argued the Orange Order 'has gone to great lengths to engage on the ground in the 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'.

Ms Kiley argued the imposition of the injunction 'does not mean that this parade cannot proceed, it means it cannot proceed tomorrow'.

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.'

Tony McGleenan KC, representing the Parades Commission, said the court's move to 'deem a notified parade unnotified' was 'entirely unprincipled'.

'It's not who threatens the most, it's that there's an assumption in favour of legal assembly,' he said.

'We cannot have every Parade Commission determination brought back into this court every week, that's not how it is supposed to work.'

Justice Keegan earlier said 'there is a major problem that the decision in this case was given after 2pm on a Friday afternoon.