Order gets city parade go ahead

A limited parade will be allowed through

A limited Orange Order parade will be permitted to walk along a nationalist area of west Belfast on Saturday, the Parades Commission has said.

There were serious disturbances last September when a parade was prevented from marching through the Workman Avenue gates onto the Springfield Road.

A single lodge with district officers will be allowed through the gate.

The rest of the parade will go to the Springfield Road through the site of the old Mackies factory.

There are strict rules governing which flags and banners may be flown and what music the bands can play.

'Violence'

Sinn Fein councillor Tom Hartley described the commission's ruling as "immoral and unacceptable".

"It will not be lost on the wider nationalist community that, in the first test for the new Parades Commission, which of course includes Orange Order members and sympathisers, they have decided to directly reward last year's violence and intimidation with a parade along the Springfield Road," he said.

The SDLP's Alex Attwood said the commission's decision was "very different" from the course recommended by his party.

"The party made it absolutely clear to the commission that the nature of this parade, the vicious rioting last year and the level of dialogue entered into, all meant that no parade should come down Workman Avenue," he said.

In a statement, the DUP said the ruling recognised that this section of the Springfield Road should be shared space, but said it was "bizarre" that the numbers allowed to walk along the road had been restricted.

Parades Commission chairman Roger Poole said the decision had been a difficult one, particularly after the "savage and shameful violence" of last year.

However, he said both sides had "shown courageous leadership and real commitment by taking part in meaningful dialogue".

The cost of policing the Whiterock parade last year and subsequent rioting in a number of loyalist areas was estimated at £3m by the PSNI.

Police officers were attacked with petrol bombs and blast bombs, as well as live rounds during the trouble.

The Protestant marching season is one of the fixed elements of Northern Ireland life, and in recent years some parades have led to disputes and street violence.

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