Drumcree decision: Lockhart ‘dumbfounded’ at lack of Parades Commission resignations

The Northern Ireland secretary said on Tuesday that it was “really important that the Parade’s Commission carries the respect of all communities in Northern Ireland, otherwise it simply can’t function”.

Sir Chris said he had not read the “precise terms” of what has been said, but added that he was “concerned that it looks as if the Parades Commission have not got things right here”.

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said the ruling made “the position of the current commissioners untenable”.

Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who was involved in bringing the case, said on Wednesday that the parade in Portadown was “always unfinished business for the loyal orders, it was always an injustice”.

“Before we even get to a new application, certainly a number of these commissioner positions are unsustainable,” he said.

Bryson said it was a “very important parade”, but that no-one is “asking for a parade which resembles 1995, 1996, 1997, they simply want to complete their traditional parade to get their bannerette home”.

Former SDLP assembly member for Upper Bann, Dolores Kelly, said she believed “the commission on this case has dropped the ball”.

However, she said the Parades Commission “decision over the last number of years has been the right decision”.

“But let’s not overplay the outcome, the outcome is simply that the commission was found to not have followed procedure guidelines.

“It’s nothing new for unionism to call for the parades commission to resign.”