Residents may take parades challenge to House of Lords

The Garvaghy Road Residents Group has said it may take a case to the House of Lords in Britain in relation to the appointment of two Orangemen to the Parades Commission.

Last month, the High Court in Belfast ruled that the appointments were unlawful because the Orangemen had been invited to apply for the jobs, while nationalist residents had not.

However, this ruling was overturned today following an appeal by Northern Secretary Peter Hain.

The Appeal Court ruled that Mr Hain was not obliged to seek nominations from nationalist residents in order to ensure the commission was fair and balanced.

It said the Orangemen had pledged to act impartially, but the Garvaghy Road Residents Group, which took the initial case, said today that this pledge was worthless.

Spokesman Brendan McCionnaith said the residents had no faith in the pledge given the fact that one of the Orangemen in question had pledged to use his job "to fight the Orangemen's case inside the fence".

Sinn Féin MLA John O'Dowd, meanwhile, said the ruling means Mr Hain cannot be held accountable through the courts or through the democratic institutions.

"In other parts of the world, they call that dictatorship," he said. "In this part of the world, we call it direct rule."