Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA has welcomed the Secretary of State's decision to order an independent judge-led review of the Parades Commission, but called for its terms of reference to be widened significantly.

Jon Burrows MLA said:

“An independent, judge-led review is the right course of action. It is what Portadown District itself requested, and I support that call. However, the review's terms of reference must extend beyond processes and procedures.

“It must examine the Commission's working practices, training and culture, and be explicitly tasked with recommending any necessary legal changes, including the creation of an appeals mechanism for Parades Commission determinations. It should also establish whether other flawed determinations have been made.

“The terms of reference should therefore be widened, the judge should be granted full access to the Commission's documentation, and the final report must be published in full within a clearly defined timescale. Reporting privately to the Secretary of State on procedural matters alone would not be sufficient.

“On the commissioners, I have been clear that confidence has been lost. Steps should now be taken to appoint fresh commissioners in a timely and orderly manner.

“There is a pattern here that extends beyond the present Secretary of State. Successive governments have shored up the Parades Commission and defended its processes, despite failures that were apparent to many of us long before they were identified by the courts. We now need a proper reset to ensure that the Commission commands confidence across the community.

“What has been exposed is not simply an isolated error. For years, there has been a perception that the Commission arrived at determinations it had already settled upon, regardless of the representations made to it. We now know that a commissioner privately described mediation on this parade as a non-starter. The Parades Commission is supposed to make decisions objectively, not engage in predetermined rubber-stamping.

“I encourage the Secretary of State to meet promptly with Portadown District. These are the men at the centre of this matter. They pursued their case through the courts and were vindicated.

“Finally, this is a time for cool heads and a clear focus on solutions. This parade needs to be resolved permanently and peacefully. Twenty-eight years of litigation and stalemate has served nobody, and another twenty-eight would serve nobody either. Northern Ireland has made great progress in recent years, and it is vital we never return to the dark days of the past. We must all work within the law, and in a spirit of mutual respect, to find a lasting resolution to this and to other sensitive issues.”