Tour of the North Parade is peaceful
Seen as ‘positive sign’ for Orange parades later this summer
By Mick Hall
An agreement that allowed an Orange Order parade to pass off peacefully in north Belfast has been described as a “positive sign” that progress can be made to resolve the issue of contentious parades in the area this summer.
The Tour of the North parade took place without major incident on Friday evening. The controversial parade has usually resulted in serious violence between loyalist marchers and nationalist residents as it passes the Ardoyne shops on the Crumlin Road.
There were only minor instances of stone throwing on Friday evening as one Orange Order band made its way past the nationalist estate on the second leg of the parade. No music was played as the band passed and only representatives of constituent lodges followed. A small group of local residents held a protest. Only two PSNI vehicles and four officers policed Friday’s parade.
There were no major confrontations with the PSNI following the march largely because of the force significantly decreasing its presence in light of the agreement reached by the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group and loyal order representatives through the North Belfast Parades Forum.
Joe Marley, from the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group said the agreement had been the result of reciprocal compromise resulting from “substantive dialogue” between residents and representatives of the loyal orders.
He told Daily Ireland that Friday’s relatively peaceful parade was a sign that confidence and trust could be built over the coming weeks to resolve a number of difficult situations ahead this summer.
“The Tour of the North parade has been traditionally one of the most difficult in the North. It passed off with only minor incidents on Friday.
“The agreement shows the value of substantive dialogue between the local community and loyal orders. What we have here is only a beginning, a positive first step to resolving the marching issue in North Belfast. It can be seen as a genuine building of confidence between the two communities in the area,” said Mr Marley.
The residents’ spokesman also said talks would continue with the Parades Forum this week.
The decision to scale down both the number of loyalists involved in the march and the number of nationalist protesters was welcomed by Parades Commission chairman, Roger Poole, who said he hoped it would act as an example for the rest of the marching season.
Last July’s Tour of the North resulted in 18 PSNI members and 11 others being injured during trouble. Missiles were thrown by nationalist protesters and there were clashes between police and protesters. Several petrol bombs were thrown and residents were attacked by the PSNI with a pressure hose.
