Drumcree Residents Go Back to the Court of Appeal
A third round of talks at Hillsborough Castle ended on Tuesday evening without a breakthrough and is expected to resume today. Lawyers for the Garvaghy Road residents have lodged a fresh application to the Court of Appeal in Belfast, arguing the Parades Commission “materially misdirected itself” over the police assessment of the potential for disorder. The hearing is listed for Friday.
The legal argument has narrowed to a documentary one: the residents say the commission did not give an “accurate representation of the evidence received from” the police when it reversed twenty-eight years of practice, which if accepted would unpick the determination rather than merely delay it. The Northern Ireland Secretary is still shuttling, having told the conference his job was “bringing both sides together, talking to everyone, bridging sectarian divides and giving compromise a chance”. What has not happened is worth stating plainly: nobody has been arrested or prosecuted over Sunday’s unlawful blockade, no fresh parade has been notified, and no international mediator has been appointed despite Dublin suggesting one was likely. The determination still stands at thirty-five men, an eight o’clock start and no bands or banners. Watch Friday.