Have you been paying attention? This phrase “they have a legal right to walk the road” is rapidly becoming the most abused sentence in loyalism. They don’t possess some timeless, unrestricted legal entitlement to parade Garvaghy Road whenever they choose. What existed on 27 September was a specific Parades Commission determination, for a particular parade, at a particular time, involving 35 people and subject to conditions. Indeed, after the specified parade period passed, the residents’ solicitor argued that the determination had expired and a fresh application was necessary. Jamie Bryson argued the opposite. In other words, even the continuing legal position was disputed. And here’s the bigger point you’re determined to avoid, Having permission for a parade does not magically erase everybody else’s rights. People on Garvaghy Road have rights to protest, political expression and peaceful assembly too. Calling them “sectarian bigots” because they exercise those rights rather spectacularly undermines your lecture about rights. And singing republican songs doesn’t somehow transfer ownership of the road to the Orange Order. This is the mentality that needs challenged: “Our rights mean you must accommodate us; your rights mean you’re preventing us getting what we want.” That’s not equality. Equality means the Orange tradition has rights and so do the people living on Garvaghy Road. After decades in which this particular route became synonymous with an extraordinarily bitter communal dispute, saying NO to an Orange parade isn’t evidence that Catholics have suddenly acquired supremacy. It’s evidence that they have a voice. Perhaps that’s the bit you’re struggling with. A neighbour who can finally tell you “no” isn’t oppressing you ffs