THE ‘Twelfth’ was marred by violence at Ardoyne, North Belfast last night. It was the only major incident, and other violence was localised rather than widespread. It seems unlikely that there will be anything on this scale again this summer, and I would guess that there will be no real political ramifications for the peace process – but possibly for the beleagured Parades Commission.
Reports suggest Sinn Fein tried – but failed – to curtail rioting by republicans, and the party has been angered by what it sees as PSNI defiance of the Parades Commission’s determination. In fact, the only thing that seems to unite the Orange Order and republicans is their contempt of the Parades Commission.
Debate is centring on the PSNI’s interpretation of the Commission’s assertion that “[O]n the return route, only Lodge members and the notified marshals may process on foot between the junction of Woodvale Road and Woodvale Parade and the junction of Crumlin Road and Hesketh Road.”
The BBC reported that Superintendent David Boultwood said:
“We had tried to find a compromise so that neither party could feel as though they had been disadvantaged and unfortunately we had to bring the supporters up in the way in which we did,” he said.
“We separated them from the actual lodges themselves and what we were basically doing was ensuring that everybody’s human rights were being respected.”
The PSNI has also said that the Orange supporters were only allowed through AFTER the parade had passed, when they believed the Commission’s ruling was no longer in effect. Nationalists disagree that they should have been let through at all. The determination lacks real clarity on this point, although its mention that “only Lodge members and the notified marshals may process on foot” seems to suggest that supporters could have been bussed. Quite how one legally determines who is an Orange supporter and who is a member of the public is anyone’s guess. Is it legal to prevent someone walking along a footpath who is not wearing regalia? For how long should people be prevented from passing the Ardoyne shops? The whole thing seems a mess.
The Commission’s determination also points out that the Orange Order in North and West Belfast appears to be willing to engage in dialogue with nationalist groups, in defiance of the Grand Master’s platform speech. The Commission said: “The Commission has been assured that Orange Order members will be present and will be actively represented on this Parades Forum and that the Orange Order members will be participating in meetings with the residents.
“The Commission has heard of the desire of the Parades Forum to engage with Ardoyne residents representatives in a series of meetings, over the coming months in an effort to reach agreement on future parades through this area. The Commission accepts this intention to engage is genuine and expects the Parades Forum to honour these commitments.”
On the scale of things, this was relatively minor and localised violence compared to previous disputes and riots surrounding parades.
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