The Derry Bogside Residents' Group plans to hold a "peaceful and disciplined protest" at the start of next Thursday's controversial "Long March", which has been described by its organisers as a march for Protestant civil rights.
The Parades Commission yesterday gave the go-ahead for the first stretch of the 11-day, 117-mile walk from Derry to Portadown. The first day involves a 17-mile walk to Limavady.
In its statement, the commission said the first stage of the march would assemble in Derry's Guildhall Square at 10 a.m. next Thursday.
A major investment conference is due to take place in the Guildhall at the same time.
The commission said: "We are also conscious that there is a history of public disorder associated with parades which involve the Diamond area of the city." The commissioners noted that the event was notified to them as a civil rights demonstration, and said they took into account the "significance of Londonderry in the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Northern Ireland.
"The commission does not propose to place route restrictions on this parade, particularly as the organisers have given assurances that no bands would participate and that no flags or regalia, other than a single civil rights banner, would be carried or worn," the statement said.
The commissioners said the organisers must ensure that no uniforms or regalia are worn by participants; that no bands accompany the parade; that no flags or banners are carried, with the exception of a single banner; and that participants quickly obey any lawful direction given by the police.
Bogside Residents' Group spokesman Mr Donnacha Mac Niallais said they opposed the parade because it was sectarian and linked to intimidation of the people in Garvaghy Road.
"We are determined to show our opposition to it in a disciplined and controlled fashion. We have our plans made to ensure it will be a peaceful protest. This march is not about civil rights, it is about stirring up sectarian tensions and is about hate and triumphalism, and it is a slur on the memory of Martin Luther King that this march of shame should be compared with the Washington march."
One of the march organisers, Craigavon Ulster Unionist councillor Mr Jonathan Bell, welcomed the commission's determination. "This march is about acknowledging that within the unionist community there have been human rights abuses and ethnic cleansing. We never intended to have uniforms, regalia or bands, so it is good news that the unionist community in Northern Ireland can highlight the human rights abuses and the cultural violation of their heritage in a democratic and Christian way."
He called on paramilitaries, loyalist and republican, not to "muscle in" but let the march proceed.
The North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, said the march reflected a deep sense of grievance within the unionist community which he understood. "There is, of course, a right to protest. I hope that the Parades Commission itself will do nothing to exacerbate the sense of grievance and I hope those who are organising this protest will take great care at every stage and in every aspect of this to do nothing that would exacerbate the situation."
The Sinn Fein President, Mr Gerry Adams, said the march was "stupid, insensitive, sectarian and deliberately provocative". He appealed to nationalists not to rise to any provocations.