Parades Commission

i'm hearing it could be fewer than a hundred people they're going to propose and possibly just possibly no bands certainly once they hit the garbacchi road the idea would be less than a hundred people going down there totally silently not even a drumbeat that's one idea that certainly was floated on monday night at the meeting here in porter down we don't have any confirmation But if the Orange Order are saying it's significant, it can't be 400 people again.

So clearly what they're doing then, Mark, is they're trying to leverage the argument against a Parades Commission saying, making a determination that they can't walk down that road, right?

Well, neither of us were in court, but my reading of what happened in court and that determination, which was quashed last week, It was about the procedures in terms of the decision-making process, which were flawed, not the actual decision.

So if you're the Orange Order and you're looking at that, you're thinking to yourself, if we put in an application for exactly the same parade, Maybe by a better decision-making process, we're going to get the same decision.

And is that, Mark, I wonder how that will be looked upon by wider members of the Orange Order.

Will they feel that they've had to compromise to the point where it's too much? If they do that, if they don't have one single band going down that road, have they lost?

Well, I suppose the cynical view is that this is just a ploy to try and curry favour with the Parades Commission.

We know the residents have made it very clear through the coalition on the Garvacchi Road that they're not interested in a march and not all that interested in talking to the Orange Order.

The Orange Order has today announced its plan to march along Portadown-Scovackey Road, one of the most contentious parade routes in our history.

It follows a court ruling that overturned the Parades Commission's decision on this year's parade.

At a press conference this morning in Carlton Street Orange Hall in Portadown...

District officials announced details of that parade.

with no bands, no drumbeat, no music, no politicians, and they've promised no triumphalism if they do get down the road.

I suppose, William, they could have gone further and just proposed two or three people with the Portadown bannerette, so it could have been more generous.

Nonetheless, it will still give the Peer Parades Commission a big decision to make sometime within the next 24 days.

Is the suggestion today, Mark, that this is a sort of one and done scenario? They get to walk down this Gervaki Road route this year and then that's it?

And I think people are rightly questioning that decision-making process and whether it was upheld in the right way or not.

And in any circumstance, whether it's the Parades Commission or other public body, to me, the most appropriate thing would be to resign when you failed in doing your job.

And I think that's what's happened here.

But there's a review happening and we'll see what the outcome of that is.

To undermine the integrity of that, to undermine the confidence of that, you know, I think these people should just take that responsibility and move on and try and ensure that we can have a fresh start in that

area.

So in your opinion then, the Parades Commission, so Chris Brand said this commission needs to have the confidence of everybody in society.

So in your view now, there's not one unionist here.

They say they've scaled back the plans and hope the parade will be allowed along the mainly nationalist Garvahy Road.

The application will now go into the Parades Commission.

And Gardaí say enforcement of new e-scooter regulations due to come in tomorrow is likely to be weak as Gardaí are not trained to deal with those who fail to stop.

From tomorrow, the wearing of helmets and high-vis clothing on an e-scooter is mandatory.

1997 was the last year a march took place.

The Parade Commission decisions and opposition of the local community have seen to that.

Last week, the Drumcree and Garbahie Road issues jumped back into the media when the High Court in Dublin quashed a determination by the Praise Commission to ban this year's Drumcree march.

It did so because of a procedural flaw in how the decision was reached.

I'm Vicki Hawthorne.

The Secretary of State orders a judge-led review of the Parades Commission following last week's Drumcree High Court decision.

Sir Chris Bryant is also grappling with the lack of a Stormont budget.

I'll be joined by representatives from some of the main parties to discuss it all.

Plus, we hear from Stormont's newest minister, the UUP Health Minister, Robbie Butler.

The new Secretary of State may only be in his job a number of weeks, but he finds himself having to navigate a problem going back three decades.

Today, Sir Chris Bryant has ordered an independent, judge-led review of the Parades Commission.

It follows last week's High Court ruling on the Drum Cree Parade.