O Order bitching about parade ruling
Order’s anger over parade ruling
The Orange Order said the ruling was “unacceptable”
A senior member of the Orange Order has called a decision to reroute a parade in west Belfast “unacceptable”.
Belfast Grand Master Dawson Bailie was commenting on the Parades Commission’s re-routing of the Whiterock parade.
The commission ruled marchers would not be allowed to pass through security gates at Workman Avenue, on to the Springfield Road at Saturday’s parade.
The Orange Order is due to meet the Police Ombudsman later to discuss the policing of parades.
Whiterock meeting
Members of District No 9, Whiterock, are also due to meet later to discuss the determination.
The Whiterock march is one of a series of parades by Protestant Orangemen which culminates in the biggest demonstrations on 12 July.
Last year, the commission initially barred Orangemen from walking down part of the Springfield Road during the parade.
However, the day before it was due to take place, that decision was reversed.
The parade passed off peacefully.
Individual lodge members in east Belfast have been questioned by police about alleged breaches of Parades Commission rulings.
However, the Order said the parades under investigation were legal and it is angry that the police have been pursuing inquiries.
Rev Mervyn Gibson of the Orange Order said: “The PSNI continue, even until Saturday past, to pursue individuals with a view to prosecution what they now know and have known for some time to be legal parades.
“We call on the PSNI to clarify this situation regarding pending investigations and prosecutions that are causing so much hurt and stress.”
The Parades Commission was set up in 1997 to make decisions on whether controversial parades should be restricted.
Each year, Orangemen commemorate Protestant Prince William of Orange’s 1690 Battle of the Boyne victory over Catholic King James II.
