West is urged to stay away
By Damien McCarney
West Belfast people are being called on to support efforts in North Belfast to find a resolution to tomorrow’s contentious Tour of the North parade. Local community representatives urged people not from the area to stay away, as last year the majority of the 24 people arrested at the North Belfast march were from the West of the city.
This week, the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group (APDG) and the loyalist North and West Belfast Parades Forum came to an accommodation on this Friday night’s Tour of the North parade along the Crumlin Road.
The North and West Belfast group agreed to voluntarily restrict the numbers involved in this year’s parade and to bring the timing of the return route of the march forward by an hour-and-a-half in a bid to reduce tension.
The Ardoyne group reciprocated by scaling down its protest on the night and both sides now expect that there will be a huge reduction in the PSNI presence on the night.
Joe Marley of the APDG said that people in West Belfast can play a big role in supporting the residents’ group’s efforts to achieve a peaceful resolution.
“We have always valued the support of the nationalist community in West Belfast on the parading issue down through the years.
“However, we have noticed in recent years that some young people from the West of the city are travelling to North Belfast on the night of parades in the expectation of trouble.
“Last year, some 20 young people from West Belfast were charged with public order offences connected to trouble which followed last year’s parades on the Crumlin Road. We don’t want to see any young person at risk of being injured or going into the criminal justice system. We would appeal therefore to people in West Belfast to do all in their power to prevent young people from heading over to Ardoyne on Friday night. We don’t want anything to jeopardise this opportunity for progress.”
Mr Marley said that this week’s accommodation is about building confidence between the two groups and is the first step in a longer process.
“We have been in negotiations, independently chaired by British trade unionist and academic Bob Fryer, since April this year in a bid to find a resolution to the parades issue. We have been exploring ways in which the rights of marchers and the host communities can be recognised and respected. There is a very long way to go but the fact that substantive talks have been taking place and both groups have committed to further dialogue is a very positive development.”
The Ardoyne man said that in order for confidence in the process to be built it was important that Friday night passes off peacefully.
“It is vital that the local community remains disciplined and peaceful in its protest. It is in the interest of everyone who has a stake in the future of this community to ensure that this process is given a fair wind.
“We are calling on clergy, school teachers, local politicians, youth leaders and community workers to work with us on Friday night and in the time leading up to the parade to ensure that we seize this opportunity to build on the dialogue.
“We have called two public meetings to brief the community on the progress of the talks and our position has been endorsed. People in this community want a peaceful resolution to the parading issue and no one wants a repeat of the scenes of violence of recent years which have left the community battle scarred.”
Journalist:: Damien McCarney
