ORANGE ORDER
WELCOMES HOUSE OF LORDS RULING
The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has welcomed the ruling by the House of Lords that the Parades Commission must disclose documents about the banned Dunloy Church Parade in 2004.
Five Law Lords today unanimously ruled that all relevant documents must be given to a Belfast court.
The Orange Order said:
“This is a major victory for the Orange Order. It highlights the culture of secrecy in the Parades Commission. We regard the commission as a secret court and it appears that the Law Lords agree with us.
“In an era when there is a move towards openness in government, the Parades Commission is going in the opposite direction.
“It is prepared to waste tens of thousands of pounds of public money to keep its procedures and internal workings a secret.
“Today’s unanimous judgment will be a body blow to the Parades Commission. The Orange order will now continue with the Judicial Review in the Belfast High court. We challenge the determination of the Parades Commission in regard to the Dunloy procession and we challenge its entire existence.
“Today’s ruling by the highest court in the land is another nail in the coffin of the discredited Parades Commission.”
Note to Editor.
The judicial review application was taken by Mr David Tweed of Dunloy Orange Lodge 496 in regard to the determination of the Parades Commission which in the view of the Orange Order placed unreasonable restrictions on the church service procession of the lodge in Dunloy on Easter Sunday afternoon, April 11, 2004.
The proposed procession route was only fro a distance of 375 yards and restricted to members of the lodge itself. The Parades Commission determination restricted the procession to the boundary of the lodge premises.
December 13, 2004
