Former Northern Ireland secretary Peter Hain's appointment of two Orangemen to the Parades Commission in 2005 has been ruled unlawful by the House of Lords.
The Law Lords yesterday overturned a majority Court of Appeal decision made in June 2006 upholding Mr Hain's appointment of Portadown Orangemen David Burrows and Don Mackay. The legal action was taken by Joe Duffy, a resident of the nationalist Garvaghy Road. And yesterday's successful outcome was welcomed by Brendan Mac Cionnaith, a spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents' Group, who had always questioned the legality of the appointments.
The Garvaghy Road residents had complained that Mr Hain wrote to the main political parties, the four main churches and the "Loyal Orders" during the appointments process but did not seek applications from any residents' group. Having won their initial case in Belfast High Court, the appeal court ruled that Mr Hain was not required to achieve a balance between individual members of the Parades Commission.
However, Lord Bingham ruled yesterday that Mr Hain had made a mistake. "I feel bound to conclude that the decision to appoint Mr Burrows and Mr Mackay was one which a reasonable secretary of state could not have made if properly directing himself in law," he said. "No reasonable person, knowing of the two appointees' backgrounds and activities, could have supposed that either would bring an objective or impartial judgment to bear on problems raised by the parade in Portadown and similar parades elsewhere."
That left the Parades Commission last night seeking a new member to replace Mr Burrows, Mr Mackay having already resigned his position.
Mr Mac Cionnaith said it was clear to the nationalist community in Portadown "that serious conflicts of interest" had existed which undermined the credibility and impartiality of the commission. "Ever since the present Parades Commission took up office in January 2006, British government ministers, along with the commission's chair, Roger Poole, have publicly and robustly defended what have now been proven to be totally unlawful appointments," he said.
Mr Poole expressed the commission's disappointment at yesterday's ruling and paid tribute to Mr Burrows, who he said had served the people of Northern Ireland in a selfless, energetic and impartial way while in his post.
"There have been enormous changes in the Northern Ireland political set-up over the last couple of years and the peaceful parading seasons of 2006 and 2007 have contributed to the emergence of a more settled society. We will keep working with local people right across Northern Ireland to promote and facilitate negotiated settlements of parading issues and to uphold the primacy of dialogue," he said.
The Orange Order called for the abolition of the commission. "The legislation establishing the commission and the rules and regulations under which it operates are deeply flawed," the order said in a statement. "We believe these appointments were an act of desperation by the then secretary of state as a final bid to try to make a failed system work. This latest decision calls into question the legal standing of determinations made by the Parades Commission. The sooner it disappears the better for everyone."