Drumcree parade challenge: Court hears PSNI feared attack on officers
Lawyers in Belfast set out the police assessment of possible gunfire and petrol bombs if officers cleared protesters, as the Orange Order challenged the parade ban.
The High Court in Belfast heard on 19 October that the Police Service of Northern Ireland considered an attack on officers possible if they cleared protesters from the Garvaghy Road for an Orange Order parade. The assessment emerged during a challenge to Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant’s decision to ban the procession along the road in Portadown.
The hearing adds detail about the security advice behind the decision. The Orange Order had already sought an emergency court review of the ban; its challenge now tests both the decision and Chief Constable Jon Boutcher’s role in prompting it.
What the court heard about the Garvaghy Road protest
Richard McConkey KC, representing an Orange Order member, read from a police intelligence assessment provided to Bryant. He said it described a protest on the road as almost certain and assessed that dissident republicans had attended. The assessment considered it possible that they had access to firearms in the area, according to the accounts reported by RTÉ and PA Media.
McConkey said the assessment considered it possible that firearms would be used against officers if police removed protesters. He also cited intelligence that serious disorder could involve petrol bombs, and that mainstream republicans were concerned about their ability to prevent disorder or control dissident republicans. Those were risks presented to the court, rather than events that had occurred.
Why the Chief Constable’s advice is being challenged
The Parades Commission had allowed the procession before Boutcher asked Bryant to review that determination. The Secretary of State’s ban followed a two-week stand-off in which protesters blocked the proposed route. The road is in a mainly nationalist area, and residents opposed the procession, PA Media reported.
McConkey argued that Boutcher exceeded his powers when he warned of potentially catastrophic consequences for trust in policing and Northern Ireland’s political institutions. He told the court that preserving the political institutions or the peace process was not a policing function. Portadown District and unionist politicians have accused Bryant and Boutcher of yielding to threats of violence, RTÉ reported.
For the PSNI, Peter Coll KC said Boutcher’s warning was a statement of the obvious and relevant to the wider policing situation, including the operation’s cost. Coll said a stalemate had developed and police had no viable operational way to complete the parade. The judicial review hearing was continuing when RTÉ reported from the court.
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Sources and context
- PSNI feared attack on police over Drumcree parade - courtRTÉ News
- Police feared a firearm attack if Drumcree parade went ahead, court toldEvening Standard (PA Wire reporting; Jonathan McCambridge byline)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.