Review urged over parade ruling

A limited parade is to be permitted on Saturday

Sinn Fein has asked the Parades Commission to review its ruling over a contentious west Belfast parade.

The commission said it had to rule on Saturday's Whiterock parade as agreement could not be reached.

It said 50 Orangemen will be allowed through Workman Avenue and the rest of the parade will go to the Springfield Road via the old Mackies factory site.

However, the commission will meet again on Wednesday to discuss the ruling which nationalists said was "shameful".

Sean Murray, chairman of the Springfield Residents' Group said the ruling was "immoral".

He said the decision "flies in the face of logic, set against the backdrop of what happened last September".

"Our community was faced with a campaign, an organised campaign... of intimidation by both the Orange Order and the loyalist bands."

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

Mr Murray said there were three options in relation to the parade.

"There is the West Circular route which we would see as a victory for the nationalists over the unionists; Workman gates which we would see as a victory for unionists over the nationalists. Now our position is and has been for the past six years that the parade should be put through the Mackies (site).

"We would see it as a win/win situation for both communities."

'Savage and shameful'

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

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

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