The Northern Ireland Parades Commission has given approval for a contentious march by the Apprentice Boys of Derry on Easter Monday. The Belfast Walker Club of the Apprentice Boys is being allowed to march along the mainly nationalist lower Ormeau Road in Belfast for the first time in nearly two years.
The parade, which is opposed by nationalist residents, will mark the start of the loyalist marching season.
Fifty members and one band will take part in the parade, but the commission has forbidden any music to be played between the two bridges on the Ormeau road, which mark the borders of the nationalist area.
Issuing its ruling yesterday, the commission said since August 1999, there had been "clear evidence of considerable efforts" by the Apprentice Boys to reach agreement with the residents' group, the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community (LOCC).
It said the LOCC had, in turn, engaged in dialogue with them which had been "sustained and meaningful, notwithstanding spasmodic breaks".
The commission said it was "regrettable" that the dialogue had "not produced agreement or acquiescence".
The ruling was criticised by LOCC spokesman Mr Gerard Rice. He said he was "absolutely shocked` by the ruling, adding he had already asked the Parades Commission for a review.
"We believe this was the wrong decision. We will ask the Parades Commission to overturn this decision. Failing that we may go to the courts and ask for a judicial review."
Mr Tommy Cheevers, the spokesman for the Apprentice Boys, said he hoped residents would abide by the commission's decision as members of his organisation had done over the past five years.