THE HEAD of the Parades Commission, Rena Shepherd, has called for a peaceful marching season after the first of the contentious parades of the summer, the Tour of the North, took place in north Belfast last night.
The Orange Order parade through loyalist areas of north Belfast was banned by the Parades Commission from passing by the nationalist Ardoyne shops – the scene of violence last year on the night of July 12th, much of it blamed on dissident republicans.
Some 20 bands and about 2,000 marchers participated in the parade. A small nationalist protest against the parade was staged near Duncairn Gardens last night. The parade passed off peacefully.
“It is important, where there is no overall agreement on parades, that all sides adhere to the decisions of the commission,” said Ms Shepherd. “Some people are predicting a difficult parading season, but it has been shown in the past that tense parades can be managed in a calm and responsible manner,” she added.
Ardoyne in north Belfast on the night of the Twelfth remains one of the most volatile of the North’s contentious parades, Ms Shepherd has acknowledged.
The annual Drumcree parades of recent years have been peaceful, but there is some doubt over how this year’s parade will unfold after the local Portadown District failed to submit the required 28-day application for permission to march to Drumcree church on July 4th. Applications for Orangemen to return through the nationalist Garvaghy Road are now routinely banned.
Orange Order sources said the local district decided against applying for a permit in protest at what they said were illegal parades held by republican group Éirigí, of which Breandán Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy residents’ group is a member.
A commission spokesman said there were mechanisms whereby the Portadown District could submit late applications.
Ms Shepherd stressed that regardless of plans to replace the commission with a revised system of dealing with parades, it remains for this year at least the “main arbiter” when dealing with contentious marches.
Under the Hillsborough castle Agreement there are plans to replace the commission with two related bodies, the first of which would be involved in dialogue and mediation.
In the event of this failing to resolve issues, the second body would be called upon.
