Appeal court overturns ban on Orange Order Garvaghy Road march

Carla Lockhart of the DUP (right) arrives with Portadown Deputy District Master of the Orange Order, Alastair Powell (second left), Portadown District Master, Nigel Dawson (second right), and other members of the Order, at Belfast High Court after Justice Patricia Smyth issued a temporary injunction banning themfrom marching at Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Residents of the largely nationalist area launched an appeal against the Parades Commission ruling permitting the Orange Order to walk down the street on Sunday for the first time in 30 years. Picture date: Saturday September 26, 2026.

PA Wire

A court in Belfast has allowed an appeal of the decision to bar the Orange Order from marching down the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.

At 11.30pm on Saturday, at a sitting of the Court of Appeals, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan said the High Court judge who granted an injunction against the march had “unfortunately erred in law”.

Members of the Orange Order have been banned from marching down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown after a High Court judge granted a temporary injunction.

Residents of the largely nationalist area launched an appeal against the Parades Commission ruling permitting the Orange Order to walk down the street on Sunday for the first time in 30 years.

On Saturday, Justice Patricia Smyth blocked the commission decision, saying the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate” across Northern Ireland.

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.

Delivering her ruling on Saturday, Ms Smyth said: “The level of mistrust between the residents and the Portadown Orange lodge cannot be overstated.

“It’s also clear to me that this particular long-running dispute has the potential to escalate within Northern Ireland.”

In the early hours of Sunday morning, Justice Keegan was deciding whether the case can be remitted back to High Court for a further hearing.