Court Allows Orange Order March Through Catholic Area of Northern Ireland for First Time in Decades

A court in Northern Ireland has ruled that a Protestant Orange Order parade may proceed through a long-disputed route in a Catholic area, the first time the march has been permitted along that path in nearly 30 years, according to a France 24 report.

The legal dispute over the parade's route was resolved in the early hours of Sunday. Counterprotests were underway shortly afterward, with police working to keep marchers and demonstrators separated as the parade proceeded.

A route with a fraught history

The parade, known as the Drumcree dispute, has been contentious since the mid-1990s, when disagreements over its route through the area sparked riots, roadblocks, and deaths, at a time when Northern Ireland's peace process was itself fragile.

The Orange Order, a Protestant fraternal organization, holds parades across Northern Ireland annually, some of which pass through or near predominantly Catholic and nationalist neighborhoods, occasionally reigniting sectarian tensions rooted in the region's decades-long conflict, known as the Troubles.

Police said officers would remain in the area to manage the situation as marchers and counterprotesters gathered. The report did not detail whether any arrests or clashes occurred during the parade itself.