Parades body appointments upheld

Don MacKay (left) and David Burrows are prominent Orangemen

The Court of Appeal has upheld Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain's decision to appoint two Orangemen to the Parades Commission.

The court's majority verdict overturned a judicial review in May which said that the appointment of David Burrows and Don MacKay was unlawful.

The appeal was upheld by Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr and Lord Justice Campbell.

The third appeal judge, Lord Justice Nicholson, dismissed the appeal.

Reading out the majority decision on Friday, Lord Chief Justice Kerr said the conflict of interest the two Orangemen would face in making decisions was both inescapable and obvious.

But prior to their appointment, he said, they had given assurances that they would treat all parade applications in an objective manner.

Sir Brian said that while the secretary of state's decision had been political, it was not illegal.

Mr Hain welcomed the decision

In May's judicial review, the High Court said Mr Hain had failed to ensure the commission make-up represented both sides of the community.

Appointments

Mr Hain had written to the main political parties, the four main churches and the loyal orders during the appointments process, but had not sought applications to the seven-member commission from any residents' group.

However, Lord Chief Justice Kerr said "the officials responsible for advertising the post of commissioner and soliciting applications for appointment to the commission were not under an obligation to consider whether to target residents' groups as a counterbalance to the letter sent to the loyal orders".

"This was the single ground on which the judge had found that the decision of the secretary of state was invalid," he added.

Brendan MacCionnaith said they may take the case to the Lords

The case was brought to court by Joe Duffy, a resident of the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, who sought to overturn the appointment of Mr Burrows and Mr MacKay.

Speaking after the announcement, Mr Hain said he welcomed the decision.

The Northern Ireland secretary said that in making the appointments, he had been "seeking to bring fresh thinking and a fresh approach to this difficult issue".

Speaking outside the court, Brendan MacCionnaith, spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents' Group, said they would be consulting their legal representatives on whether to take the case to the House of Lords. "The whole question of equality has come into play in this judgment," he said.

Orange Order

Sinn Fein Upper Bann assembly member John O'Dowd said the court ruling was worrying, but not surprising.

Alex Attwood, SDLP, said: "All of this confirms that issues remain deeply in dispute and may well require further reference to the House of Lords."

In a statement, the Parades Commission said it was considering the verdict.

"The entire issue of appointments and any legal action arising out of those appointments is not a direct matter for the Parades Commission and throughout the recent period, and indeed since this commission was established, we have been getting on with our job of working to resolve the issue of contentious parades throughout Northern Ireland," it said.

Both Mr Burrows and Mr MacKay were members of the Portadown Lodge which has been at the centre of the decade-long dispute surrounding what has become known as the Drumcree parade.

Mr MacKay resigned from the commission earlier this month after it emerged he had listed DUP MP David Simpson and SDLP assembly member Dolores Kelly as referees on his application form without asking their permission.

The Parades Commission was set up by the government in 1997 to make decisions on whether controversial parades should be restricted.