Orange parade to pass flashpoint

Orangemen will pass Ardoyne Shops on 12 July

An Orange Order parade is to be allowed to pass the flashpoint Ardoyne shops area of north Belfast on 12 July.

However, the Parades Commission has imposed restrictions on band music and the conduct of supporters.

In west Belfast Orangemen and two bands will be allowed through Workman Avenue on the morning of the 12th, but not on the return journey in the evening.

Orangemen have again been banned from marching along Portadown's Garvaghy Road after Sunday's Drumcree service.

The Drumcree parade has passed off peacefully in recent years but was at the centre of violence over the years.

Orangemen last walked down the Garvaghy Road in 1997.

The Tour of the North parade was attacked as it passed the Ardoyne shop fronts on Friday 17 June. Police were also attacked with stones and petrol bombs.

The Orange Order's 12 July parades commemorate King William of Orange's victory over King James at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The Parades Commission was set up in 1997 to make decisions on whether controversial parades should be restricted.