Drumcree: A parades commission in crisis

A largely forgotten Orange Order marching dispute, from one of the darkest periods of Northern Ireland’s past, has thrown the Parades Commission into crisis.

It has also picked at old wounds, re-igniting arguments about rights and respect in a divided society.

In the late 1990s, the Drumcree parade cranked up tensions to levels felt during the worst of the Troubles, resulting in murders, riots, and roadblocks.

The issue, if not officially settled, had been in a coma until Tuesday’s High Court outcome.

The parade takes place in Portadown every July on the Sunday before the Twelfth.

Since 1998, and from its creation, the Parades Commission has imposed restrictions on the local the Orange lodge’s route back from a service at Drumcree Church.

It prevents marchers from setting foot on the mainly Nationalist Garvaghy Road – the flashpoint of previous summers.

The ban is also imposed on very small weekly parades from the church in protest, which stop at a police line at a distance from Garvaghy Road.

It barely attracts attention.

For the lodge and supporters, the 1998 parade remains unfinished and each application seeks its completion.