The Parades Commission is the organisation set up by the government to resolve disputes caused by contentious marches in Northern Ireland - and they are one of the parties at the centre of today's appeal in the Belfast courts.

Their role in the current stalemate began when it decided a parade application for the road earlier this year would be banned from the Garvaghy Road - a decision it has made every year since 1998.

However, an appeal by an Orange Order member led to the High Court quashing that decision over a procedural error. The Orange Order then reapplied for a march down the road on Sunday, 27 September - an application approved by the commission just two days before it was due to happen.

This led to 24 hours of court challenges and the eight days of stalemate at Drumcree and the Garvaghy Road.

Image source, Pacemaker

The commission was originally set up in 1997, after several years of disorder and tension caused by the Drumcree/Garvaghy Road dispute.

It facilitates mediation between parade organisers and opponents but, if that fails, also takes decisions about restricting parades if no agreement is reached - restrictions can include a cap on numbers, the use of music or deciding a certain road or area cannot be part of the route.

Parades Commission rulings are known as determinations and are legally binding. Anyone found in breach of a determination can be prosecuted.

However, the organisation does not have the power to ban a march. That power lies with the Northern Ireland secretary of state.

The commission describes itself as "an independent, quasi-judicial body" and its members are appointed by the secretary of state.

Image source, Getty Images

The Orange Order is a fraternal organisation that derives its name from William of Orange - the Protestant Dutchman who seized the throne from Catholic King James II back in the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688.

Two years later, 'King Billy' saw off James for good at the Battle of the Boyne, a moment the Orange Order celebrate annually during 12 July celebrations.

The 12 July is the biggest day of Northern Ireland's marching season, celebrated by the Orange Order every year from April to August, when Orangemen march to commemorate William's victory.

Most lodges march with a band, and the distinctive ceremonial outfits of Orangemen include suit and tie, bowler hats, orange sashes and white gloves.

For many Catholics, these marches are considered triumphalist and sectarian, with some traditional Orange routes passing through or by staunchly Catholic and nationalist areas.

In the 1990s, the Garvaghy Road route was perhaps the most contentious - and it is a continuation of that which has led to the stand-off of the last eight days.

Image source, Pacemaker

The Drumcree dispute may be centred on a courtroom today but it's complex, winding history goes back at least 30 years or so - so in the next few posts we'll look to fill that in.

In the 1990s, dispute between the Orange Order and residents of nationalist areas were a regular and bitter occurrence - and the Drumcree/Garvaghy dispute was the bitterest of them all.

The Drumcree parade dispute began in the mid-1990s and it almost derailed the peace process at the time.

Violence related to the dispute resulted in riots, roadblocks and murders.

When the Orange Order was prevented by police from walking down the route in July 1995 there was a tense stand-off. It was the same for the next three years.

The Parades Commission began operating in 1998 to regulate parades and try to defuse tension around marches.

Its decision not to allow a march down the Garvaghy Road that summer has been challenged by the order for the past three decades.

Read more on how the Drumcree dispute developed from the 1990s to today.

Claire Graham
BBC News NI

DUP assembly members Jonathan Buckley and Diane Dodds have arrived alongside Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) assembly member Timothy Gaston.

As they arrive, DUP MP Carla Lockhart and loyalist activist Jamie Bryson leave court. While doing so, they are heckled by the crowd.

In case you're just joining us, here's a recap:

• Belfast's Court of Appeal is hearing a legal challenge by Garvaghy Road residents over the original decision by the Parades Commission to allow an Orange Order march down the mainly nationalist road
• A lawyer for the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition said the commission's decision was flawed as it "misdirected itself" when it came to assessing potential disorder the parade could cause
• There have been about 200 people outside the court, including Sinn Féin politicians Deirdre Hargey and Gerry Kelly, who back the residents, and unionist representatives - including the DUP's Jonathan Buckley and Carla Lockhart - who support the Orangemen
• In Stormont, the seat of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government, parties have also been reacting with the DUP leader Gavin Robinson saying he hoped the "rule of law" will be upheld, while SDLP leader Claire Hanna said that despite the Drumcree dispute there was still political work to be done in areas such as the budget
• This is the eighth day of the Drumcree dispute, with protesters at Garvaghy Road preventing repeated attempts by Orangemen to fulfil the march following the decision by the Parades Commission 10 days ago

At Belfast's Court of Appeal has risen for a lunch break, with proceedings due to resume at 2pm.

The court is hearing an appeal from the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition (GRRC) over the Parades Commission's decision to allow an Orange Order parade down the mainly nationalist road.

Any decision the court makes will be a critical moment in the ongoing, eight-day standoff that has seen protesters gather at the road for more than a week.

Image source, PA Media

In the week after the Drumcree deadlock began, there were several rounds of talks involving Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant, members of Portadown District Orange Lodge and the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition (GRRC).

However, on Thursday night, they ended without agreement..

Speaking after the talks came to an end, Sir Chris Bryant told reporters: "I think this is the end of these conversations. We haven't come to a settled agreement, and it's a shame, but my door remains open."

Chairman of the GRRC, Breandán Mac Cionnaith said there had been no "meeting of minds" adding that the current process is "done".

Speaking after the talks broke up Portadown District Master Nigel Dawson said: "Tonight remains as it has been: that we are in possession of a positive determination issued by the Parades Commission."

All eyes then turned to today's court hearing as the next major stage of the dispute - it remains to be seen whether a fresh talks process will, or can, be started up in the wake of what it decides.

Image source, PA Media

Mark Simpson
BBC News NI

Image source, PA Media

We will continue to bring you the latest from the Court of Appeal, Stormont and Portadown throughout the afternoon, but first, let's take a look at how the past week has unfolded.

All the ingredients of a typical Northern Ireland crisis have been in place except for one – violence.

A stand-off - over a proposed Orange Order parade in Portadown, opposed by nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road - has lasted since Sunday morning.

Verbal clashes between politicians, late-night negotiations, appeals for calm and a major security operation have all been in the mix.

However, the Drumcree parade dispute in Portadown has not descended into disorder or trouble on the streets.

Sometimes in Northern Ireland, the definition of success is "nobody got hurt".

The crisis is not over, and fears of an outbreak of street violence remain, but everything is under control at the moment.

The truth is few predicted a relatively peaceful week when the crisis first erupted.

It was an extraordinary seven days.

Read more here.

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The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson tells reports at Stormont that "it's extraordinary that after a week of two judgements, two determinations from the courts, those who have broken the law and refuse to abide by the law, are running to the courts".

He says that there was a "cavalier attitude" towards the rule of law by senior Sinn Féin representatives over the weekend.

Robinson says that police have "indicated very clearly" that protests on the Garvaghy Road were unnotified protests and there will be criminal sanctions.

He says the fundamental question is whether the court's ruling "will be respected", adding: "Will the rule of law be upheld? I truly hope it will."

"If the Garvaghy road residents are successful today, that doesn't bring an end to the process. That reinvigorates the judicial review that was applied for Friday week ago," he says.

Next to speak to reporters at Stormont is the leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) Claire Hanna.

She said that despite the Drumcree dispute "there is still a job to do".

"Politics still has to look after people's everyday needs and everyday lives."

She pointed to issues such as the lack of a budget from the executive, hospital waiting lists, and rising fuel prices.

"That's what the opposition here in Stormont will be focused on today."

Image source, PA Media

Mark Simpson
BBC News NI

Back in the Court of Appeal, a lawyer representing Breandán Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition is arguing that the Parades Commission decision was flawed.

She says the commission “misdirected itself” when it came to assessing the potential for disorder as a result of the parade.

She believes the approval of the parade, which was due to take place on 27 September, has now expired.

But she says the case was about whether or not the original decision was lawful.

The previous legal challenge failed in the early hours of 27 September after an all-day court hearing.

During the first hour of proceedings, the court focused on the 12-page document published by the Parades Commission on 25 September announcing its decision on the Drumcree and its reasons.

At the centre of the case is how the commission dealt with the information it received from the police ahead of the planned parade.

The lawyer for the residents argued that the police’s assessment of the potential for disorder was “much more nuanced” than outlined in the document, and the commission should have come to a different decision on the parade.

The case continues.

The Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Jon Burrows is next up to the microphone in Stormont's Great Hall.

He says the people of Northern Ireland need an end to the stand-off so that the police "can go back to patrolling streets and protecting victims of crime" as well as "the multitude of offences committed by people at the Garvaghy Road".

"Nothing is achieved by an endless standoff at Drumcree."

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The UUP leader said that it cannot go on "indefinitely", adding that people expect politicians to deal with other problems such as the economy and the justice system.

Burrows added that the scenes on the Garvaghy Road will be "chilling for many in the Unionist community".

He said he plans to write to Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant to seek a review of criminal sanctions available under parading legislation.

Burrows said that currently any lawbreaking identified by police over the Drumcree dispute would result in a “slap on the wrist at most”.

“We need to toughen those laws up as a proper deterrence for the lawbreaking that we are seeing on the Garvaghy Road,” he told reporters at Stormont.

Darran Marshall
in Portadown

About 24 miles away from the court two members of the Portadown District of the Orange Order are maintaining a presence outside Drumcree Parish Church

Police have stationed themselves close to the church and at the bottom of Drumcree hill, the point at which the group of Orangemen have been stopped from walking beyond for the last 8 days.

On the Garvaghy Road, almost a mile from the church, about 40 people have gathered.

Some are standing around a fire while others are sitting in chairs chatting.

Musicians Una Dunne and Clodagh McColgan were playing in Belfast last night and said they called in on their way home to show solidarity with local residents.

This is their second visit to the site this week.

Traffic is flowing and there’s no police presence here.

Claire Graham
at the court in Belfast

Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly and Deirdre Hargey, who are both members of the policing board, are also outside the court this morning.

Hargey says she doesn’t believe her presence at the Garvaghy Road protest last Sunday has damaged the reputation of the policing board or Sinn Féin’s ability to uphold the law.

She says she has no regrets about attending but will let any PSNI investigation take its course.

Hargey stood arm-in-arm with protesters to prevent the Portadown District from walking. She was joined by other members of her party as well as SDLP members.

The PSNI chief constable said there was a large scale criminal investigation under way into the unlawful blocking of Garvaghy Road.

Image source, Pacemaker

Brendan Hughes
at Stormont

While dozens gather at the Court of Appeal for news, at Stormont the dispute remains top of the agenda for many politicians.

Speaking in the Great Hall this morning, Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister accused the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) of providing a “character reference” for Sinn Féin remaining at the head of Stormont’s power-sharing government.

He reiterated his call for the party to withdraw Emma Little-Pengelly as deputy first minister to trigger the removal of Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill as first minister.

Image source, PA Media

Allister described the scenes on Garvaghy Road as a “wholesale bringing of the rule of law into disrepute”.

He said Sinn Féin “effectively have in their hand a character reference from the DUP that they are fit to govern by virtue of the fact that they have sustained them there”.

The North Antrim MP rejected suggestions that his party was also goading the DUP into collapsing the executive.

Claire Graham & Julian O'Neill

Inside the Court of Appeal in Belfast the three rows of the public gallery are full.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) MP Carla Lockhart is seated on the first row beside loyalist activist Jamie Bryson, who has been acting as legal advisor to the Portadown District.

In the row behind is the man bringing the case, Breandán Mac Cionnaith, the chairman of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition.

Behind him, among others, is the Sinn Féin MP John Finucane.

The case is being argued before three judges, including the Lady Chief Justice, Dame Siobhan Keegan.

Outside the court about 150 people have gathered to wait for an update.

Residents from the Garvaghy Road are here, as are political representatives from Sinn Féin, the SDLP, People Before Profit (PBP) and Aontú.

There is an eagerness to hear from inside these walls, what this process will turn into.

Families of those who died in the 1990s say that the trauma of being here is immeasurable.

Some have stayed at home, unable to face the day ahead. Police maintain a small presence.

Members of the Portadown District of the Orange Order were due to begin a march from Drumcree down the Garvaghy Road and into Portadown town centre at 08:00 BST on Sunday 27 September.

However, despite a court ruling upholding the decision by the Parades Commission for the march to go ahead, hundreds of protestors blocked the Garvaghy Road.

Since then protesters have remained on the road and the Portadown District Orange Lodge has maintained a presence at Drumcree Church, about a mile away.

Image source, PA Media

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said it could not safely police the parade due to the protestors and a stand-off between the Orange Order and residents has continued.

Talks between both parties and Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant at Hillsborough Castle took place over several days but no agreement could be reached. Lawyers for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition issued a fresh legal bid to try to prevent the controversial march from going ahead.

The case was due to be heard on Friday but was postponed until Monday to allow negotiations to take place.

The Drumcree dispute is before the courts again today in the hope of finding a solution to the stalemate in Portadown.

The deadlock over whether a controversial Orange Order parade should be allowed to go down a predominantly nationalist road has been ongoing since last Sunday morning.

The fresh Court of Appeal application argues that the Parades Commission, the organisation that approved the march, had "materially misdirected itself" on the police assessment of the potential for disorder.

Representatives from the Portadown District of the Orange Order and the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition have arrived and a large crowd has gathered outside the courthouse where the hearing is now under way.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest.