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N.Irish court hears challenge to disputed Orangemen parade / Photo: © AFP
N.Irish court hears challenge to disputed Orangemen parade
Residents of a mainly Catholic neighbourhood in Northern Ireland sought Monday to overturn permission for a contentious Protestant parade, as a standoff with the pro-British Orange Order entered its ninth day.
The case returned to Belfast's Court of Appeal after UK government-led talks ended last week without agreement and rival gatherings in Portadown at the weekend passed without major incident.
The residents from Portadown, southwest of Belfast, are challenging the refusal to allow a judicial review of a decision permitting 35 Orangemen to walk along the mostly Irish nationalist enclave of Garvaghy Road in the town.
Their application argues that the decision by the Parades Commission -- the independent body regulating contentious marches -- misrepresented police evidence about the risk of disorder.
Denise Kiley, lawyer for the Garvaghy Road residents, told the court on Monday that the Drumcree parade was "one of the most polarising parades in the history of Northern Ireland".
She argued that granting permission for the first time in 28 years for the parade to go ahead "cries out for explanation".
Thousands blocked the procession on September 27, halting the first parade which had been allowed along the route in almost three decades.
Orangemen have remained at nearby Drumcree Church, demanding to complete the march, while residents maintain their protest.
Police again stopped the Orangemen from proceeding on Sunday.
On Saturday, thousands attended a rally supporting residents, joined by Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill and Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald. A separate gathering supported the Orangemen.
Police have warned that people blocking the road were participating in an illegal, unnotified protest and could face "criminal justice consequences".
McDonald said Sinn Fein would assist police if its members' participation in the protest came under investigation.
Britain's Northern Ireland minister Chris Bryant said he was pleased weekend events passed "without major incident" and maintained that a mutually acceptable solution remained possible.
Police chief Jon Boutcher has ruled out forcing the parade through a hostile crowd, warning of potentially catastrophic consequences.
A dispute over the same parade triggered deadly unrest in the 1990s.
The procession last proceeded along Garvaghy Road in 1997 and was barred the following year, soon after a peace accord largely ended three decades of conflict over British rule.
O. Karlsson--BTZ
