LONDON, United Kingdom, Sep 27 — A controversial Orange Order parade is set to go ahead on Sunday morning in a nationalist part of Northern Ireland for the first time in nearly 30 years.

📻 Breaking It Down

Following a series of legal challenges, the High Court ruled in the early hours of Sunday that an initial decision by the Parades Commission to allow the march in Portadownto take place had to be respected.

The Drumcree parade, which in the 1990s sparked some of the most serious disorder in Northern Ireland’s history, had been given permission to go ahead along the Garvaghy Road with restrictions in place.

However that decision was challenged in several Belfast courts on Saturday, before finally being given the go ahead just hours before it is due to take place.

📌 What You Need to Know

In a hearing concluding at 02:15 BST on Sunday morning, Justice Michael Humphreys acknowledged the “unusual if not unprecedented circumstances… with a parade due to begin in just over six hours’ time”.

Delivering his judgement, Justice Humphreys said: “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, similarly described the situation as “unprecedented”.

On Friday, the Parades Commission said the march could go ahead along Garvaghy Road.

Rather than start at 13:00 on Sunday as intended, the commission said it could begin no later than 08:00 and with 35 participants rather than the 60 the Orange Order requested.

But an initial legal challenge from the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition (GRRC) at the High Court saw a judge issue an injunction banning the parade, with Judge Patricia Smyth saying the “long-running dispute has the potential to escalate within Northern Ireland”.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya