Portadown and the Marching Season

Reports obtained from:

(1) Irish Republican News, (2) Daily Ireland

Friday-Monday, 3-6 June, 2005

• Ballymena march forced through (1)

Tuesday-Friday, 7-10 June, 2005

• Portadown and the Marching Season (1) (See German Translation)

Saturday-Tuesday, 11-14 June, 2005

• Tensions in North Belfast (1)

Wednesday-Saturday, 15-18 June, 2005

• March madness - Ardoyne residents targeted by UDA, PSNI (1)

Sunday, 19 June, 2005 

• Orangemen won't talk (2)

Friday-Monday, 3-6 June, 2005

Ballymena march forced through

By Irish Republican News

There were minor clashes betweeen nationalist protestors and the PSNI police when a sectarian parade was forced though a Catholic area of Ballymena on Saturday.

Republicans gathered as a local loyalist flute band in the County Antrim town held a march on Saturday.

Police manhandled protestors off the road and used jeeps to block both the Cushendall Road and Broughshane Road beside All Saints Catholic Church for a time. The area has become increasingly nationalist in recent years, and tension has been brewing with nationalists insisting loyalist band parades should not go along the routes.

Both Sinn Fein and the SDLP have called for a parallel route which opened in recent years - the Parkway dual-carriageway - to be used for parades.

Sinn Fein's North Antrim assembly member Philip McGuigan said: "This was a disgrace from start to finish. It is quite evident the police have not changed as they forced through a sectarian parade and lashed out at nationalists."

ORANGEMEN SAY NO

Meanwhile, the Protestant Orange Order has rejected an offer of face-to-face talks with the Parades Commission ahead of this year's marching season.

Commission chief Anthony Holland wrote to grand master of the Orange Order, Robert Saulters, earlier this week asking for a face-to-face sit-down meeting to discuss issues surrounding parades.

Parades Commission chiefs are anxious to open up a formal line of communication ahead of a what many observers fear will be a long, hot summer on the marching front.

Plans by the Orange Order to hold a massive July 12 demonstration in Derry city are already causing concern.

Although details have yet to be finalised, it is understood Orangemen in the city are keen to bring the County Derry demonstration to the overwhelmingly nationalist city for the first time in 13 years.

Tuesday-Friday, 7-10 June, 2005

Portadown and the Marching Season

(See German Translation)

By Irish Republican News

The outline facts on the Protestant marching season and the annual confrontation between marchers and Catholic residents of the Garvaghy Road enclave in Portadown.

• The Marching Season in the Six Northeastern Counties of Ireland spans from April through to December. The majority of these marches are organised by what are termed the Loyal Orders, namely the Orange Order, the Apprentice Boys and the Royal Black Preceptory.
• In Portadown approximately 40 parades are organised each year by the above groups as well as by other Loyalists groupings, With one exception, that of the return leg of the Drumcree parade along the Drumcree and Garvaghy Roads, all these marches take place in the town centre or other areas of the town which are predominantly Protestant/Unionist. Although all of these marches cause major inconvenience and annoyance, it is only the return leg of the Orange Order's Drumcree parade along the Drumcree and Garvaghy Roads which Catholic/Nationalists actively oppose.
• The Loyal Orders named above are secret societies from which Catholics are excluded. When a person becomes a member of any of the Loyal Orders, he must swear he has no blood or marital connection with any member of the Catholic faith. The Loyal Orders are exclusively Protestant, Unionist and pro- British organisations.
• A number of marches by these organisations go through areas which are predominantly Catholic/Nationalist, such as the Garvaghy Road in Portadown and the Ormeau Road in Belfast. Such marches are considered to be akin to Ku Klux Klan marches through coloured communities in the U.S. or marches by neo-Nazi organisations through Jewish or other ethnic communities in Europe.
• In these disputed areas, the Loyal Orders refuse to meet with residents' groups to discuss rerouting parades and marches away from contentious and controversial routes.
• The local Member Of Parliament is David Trimble, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, who is a member of the Orange Order. From the time he was elected in 1990 until May 1999, Mr Trimble refused to meet with the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition (his own constituents). After a visit to the U.S., where over 100 members of Congress presented him with a letter that strongly urged him to talk with his constituents, he finally attended two short meetings with the Garvaghy Road residents. During those years he did not speak with nationalist residents, he had no such problems meeting with known Loyalist paramilitary members, such as Billy Wright, also known as King Rat, at Drumcree in July 1997. Wright was the leader of a Loyalist death squad based in the Portadown area which has been responsible for the murders of over 150 Catholics since 1970. Harold Gracey, leader of the Orange Order in Portadown, frequently publicly appeared in Wright's company. For further details of David Trimble's links with Wright and others, read "The Committee" by Sean McPhilemy, published by Roberts Rheinhart.
• As is the case in all disputed areas, an alternative route which totally avoids the Garvaghy Road area is available to the Orange Order. This alternative route in Portadown (along the Corcrain and Dungannon Roads) is actually the route taken by the Orange Order on their way TO Drumcree.
• The Loyal Orders allege that residents groups are not representative of local communities. In Portadown, the Catholic/Nationalist population is represented by the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition - an umbrella group whose membership is drawn from local community-based organisations.
• Portadown is a predominantly Unionist/Protestant town in County Armagh with a total population of approximately 28,00O. The minority Catholic/Nationalist population of the town is approximately 6,000. Almost all the CathoIic/Nationalist population live in housing estates along the Garvaghy Road or the smaller Obins Street area in the north-western corner of the town. (See Map) Many of those living there were forcibly evicted from their homes in other parts of the town by pro-British Loyalist paramilitaries.
• A survey carried out in the Garvaghy Road area by the Independent Review of Parades and Marches in 1996 (a British Government agency) found that 93% of the local Catholic community in Portadown were sympathetic to the concerns expressed by the Residents Coalition.
• 97% of all those questioned in that Survey, and 99% of Catholics, said that parade organisers should take into account demographic and other changes which have occurred in the religious mix of an area.
• When asked if a parade should go through an area where the religious balance is 10% (or less) Protestant and 90% (or more) Catholic - similar to the make-up of the Garvaghy Road area - NO Catholics in favour of a march going ahead, with 90% of Catholics calling for rerouting or outright ban on such marches.
• In the 1997 local government elections, two candidates put forward by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition were both elected, and both Breandan Mac Cionnaith and Joe Duffy now represent their community as members of Craigavon Borough Council.
• The above official statistics totally contradict the untruths continually put out by the Orange Order and by the Unionist politicians that the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition is unrepresentative of the local community.
• British Crown forces in the North of Ireland, including the British Army and RUC, have mounted major operations to ensure the passage of Loyal Order marches along disputed routes like Garvaghy Road and Ormeau Road.
• These operations have been widely condemned by national and international human rights Organisations and by Irish, European, Canadian, American and South African parliamentarians who have been present on the ground to bear witness to the reality of the situation.
• These military operations virtually amount to the imposition of martial law and curfew upon the Catholic/Nationalist communities. In the Garvaghy Road in 1997, at least 2,500 members of the RUC and British Army were used to subjugate the local community whose population totals 6000 men, women and children. Such was the extent of the military occupation of the area, and the restrictions placed upon the movements of the local community, that local Catholics were physically prevented by armed soldiers and police from attending their normal Sunday 8.00am, 10.00 am, and midday Masses in St. John the Baptist Church on the Garvaghy Road in order to facilitate an Orange Order march.
• Nationalist residents who have attempted to mount peaceful protests against Orange Order marches have been beaten and forcibly removed. Over two hundred people were injured in unprovoked assaults in 1996 and a similar number again on July 6 1997 on the Garvaghy Road alone.
• In Portadown, Catholics/Nationalists only feel secure within their own area. Over the years, many have been murdered by pro-British Loyalist death-squads. Jack McCabe, Felix Hughes, Eamon McMahon, Joey Weir, Martin McConville, Robert Hamill, Thomas Trainer, Dennis Kelly and Adrian Lamph are all Catholics who have died horrific deaths at the hands of Loyalists in the area of the main commercial town centre alone. Many other Catholics have been severely assaulted and wounded in the same area while going about their normal everyday activities.
• Robert Hamill was murdered by a lynch mob of up to thirty Loyalists while returning from a night out with two female relatives in April 1997. A major controversy still surrounds his brutal death as it was revealed that members of the RUC (police force) were present when the attack took place but refused to intervene to save his life, or later go to render medical attention, despite the cries and pleas of Robert's two cousins. In March 1999, the one member of the murder gang that stood trial for Robert's killing was acquitted of any charges. The RUC witnesses were allowed to remain silent and not testify during the trial.
• Since the July 1998 Drumcree march, four people have been murdered as a result of the Orange Order assaults on the Garvaghy Road community. On July 12, three small boys were murdered while they slept in their home in Ballymoney. The Quinns home was petrol bombed by Orange Order supporters because the mother was Catholic. Rescuers could not reach the three brothers before they died in the fire set by the bomb. In October, an RUC officer, Frank Reilly, died of injuries sustained in September when a loyalist mob threw blast bombs and fireworks at RUC lines protecting the Nationalist area. And in 1999, Elizabeth O'Neill, a 65-year old grandmother was killed when loyalists threw a bomb into her home.
• On March 15, 1999 Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition Solicitor Rosemary Nelson, the well known Human Rights Activist and Civil Liberties Advocate in Ireland, was brutally murdered when a bomb was planted under her car. The first woman to set up a law practice in Lurgan, Rosemary Nelson stood for many clients who were victims of the emergency legislated system in the six counties. She accompanied the GRRC to meetings with both the British and Irish prime ministers and in proximity talks with the Orange Order. She had been under death threat from supporters of the Portadown Orange Lodge, and had received death threats and intimidation from the RUC. These threats were being investigated by the Metropolitan Police force at the time of her death. All the residents groups have joined in the call for a fully independent investigation into Rosemary's assassination, because there is no confidence that the RUC could conduct an impartial investigation.

Saturday-Tuesday, 11-14 June, 2005

Tensions in North Belfast

By Irish Republican News

A North Belfast residents' group has called on the Parades Commission to review a decision on Friday's 'Tour of the North' march.

Nationalists have expressed deep concern about the parade, which will pass nationalist homes and the flashpoint Ardoyne shops area, where serious violence flared on July 12 last year.

In a statement, the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group said it was "dismayed" at the decision to allow the march to go ahead.

"We believe this determination in fact allows for two parades to take place on the Crumlin Road," it said.

It also expressed concern at a direction that the final decision on the route to be taken by loyalist 'hangers-on' would be left to the discretion of the PSNI police.

"Given the history of operational decisions by the PSNI in relation to parades in this area...the dialogue group can see no logic in a determination that leaves responsibility for the supports of this parade in the hands of the PSNI."

The ruling, on the first major contentious parade of the marching season, will be the first test of the commission's enhanced powers under new legislation.

Serious violence broke out after a march on July 12 last year when hundreds of loyalists, including well-known UDA paramilitary figures, were allowed to pass Ardoyne shop fronts.

Frustrated nationalists clashed heavily with British forces, with only the intervention of Sinn Fein stewards, including local representative Gerry Kelly, preventing loss of life.

Gerry Kelly last night said the parade should not pass through nationalist areas "given the political vacuum at the moment".

"It is the same route on July 12 last year which caused so many difficulties and has led to tensions being raised. It is a tinderbox in Ardoyne at the moment," he said.

Mr Kelly led a party delegation to meet with the British Security Minister this evening to discuss the upcoming marching season.

Speaking before the meeting Mr Kelly said the volume of violence and disruption associated with Loyal Order parades had been reduced significantly in recent years "due to work on the ground".

But he said there were a small number of parades which had the potential to cause community conflict.

"The loyal orders must come to the realisation that the days of simply marching when and where they want are over," he said.

"The loyal orders have a responsibility as parade organisers to ensure that their parades do not cause offence and do not choose routes which give rise to serious community tensions."

He said nationalist communities had displayed a willingness over many years to enter into dialogue with the Orange Order.

"Unfortunately these advances have been spurned by the Orange Order and in some cases this intransigence has been rewarded with parades being forced through nationalist areas."

Meanwhile, a prosecution is to follow an illegal Orange Order parade in east Belfast. Police broadcast that the parade was illegal over loudspeakers, but made no attempt to intervene.

In fact, every Orange Order march planned for east Belfast on July 12 will be illegal. The unlicensed parades, along with three others scheduled for the east of the city on July 1, will all pass by the nationalist Short Strand enclave.

Residents are meeting with the Dublin government in an effort to prevent the usual rioting erupting between rival factions.

However, they remain fearful that next month's illegal marches could spark fresh violence.

A spokesman for the residents said: "We stressed to the Irish government the detrimental effect these parades will have on intercommunity relationships in east Belfast.

"It is important that the Irish government recognise our concerns before the marches take place.

"There is a genuine fear in our community that we could be targeted if a stand-off situation occurs."

Wednesday-Saturday, 15-18 June, 2005

March madness - Ardoyne residents targeted by UDA, PSNI

By Irish Republican News

Nationalist residents of north Belfast were attacked last night by both loyalists and the PSNI police following a hugely controversial march by the Protestant Orange Order.

Scores of police Land Rovers flanked the length of the road and hundreds of riot police descended on the community to facilitate the notorious 'Tour of the North' march.

The PSNI had been given power by the Parades Commission to decide the route to be taken by the loyalist supporters of the contentious parade.

But there was shock among the local residents as the loyalists, including known paramilitaries, were allowed to walk past defenceless nationalist homes in Ardoyne.

March marshals were among those who attacked Catholic residents. One woman received a broken arm after being attacked outside her house by loyalists, while others were attacked inside their own home.

Another family were openly threatened by a leading member of the Orange Order.

The PSNI turned their batons on nationalist residents attempting to defend their community. Efforts by local politicians to quell the growing violence proved in vain, and police brought in water cannon as a full-scale riot developed.

Holy Cross parish priest Father Aidan Troy said he believed that there should not be another such parade past Ardoyne until an agreement was reached between the two communities.

"I feel deeply saddened that once again this community has been plunged back into violence," he said.

"These kind of scenes benefit no-one and I honestly feel that there can't be another march like this along the Crumlin Road until some sort of agreement is brokered between both sides.

"I witnessed hand-to-hand fighting between loyalists and residents and after that the police and residents.

"It is totally unacceptable that this community is plunged back into this situation every summer."

Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly said the Parades Commission's decision to allow the loyal orders and supporters to march past Ardoyne had been "crazy" and a "recipe for disaster".

"I watched nationalist residents getting beaten by loyalist stewards and then by the PSNI," he said.

"The PSNI then tried to arrest the nationalists after they had been attacked by the loyalists.

"I warned the Parades Commission that it was madness to allow two marches along the Crumlin Road but they didn't listen.

"Now when the loyalists have got up the road there is a stand-off with nationalists because the PSNI refuse to pull back. "This community is very angry and feels that it has been abused yet again."

* The 'Red Hand Defenders', a cover name for the UDA, last night warned that members of the Ardoyne residents group were considered 'legitimate targets'.

Sunday, 19 June, 2005

Orangemen won't talk

By Eamonn Houston & Zoe Tunney, Daily Ireland

Efforts to bring a residents group and the Orange Order around the negotiating table have run aground with Orangemen refusing to enter face-to-face talks.

The Orange Order last night ruled out direct dialogue with the Bogside Residents Group ahead of next month's Twelfth parade in Derry.

The Order has indicated that its local leadership would be prepared to sit on a forum involving businessmen and "other interested parties".

The offer has been flatly rejected by the residents group, which has said that a similar initiative failed in recent years.

The BRG this week claimed the Orange Order has ignored its attempts to begin a process similar to that which paved the way for peaceful Apprentice Boys' parades in the city. DUP MLA, William Hay, a high-profile member of the Order in Derry, said the organisation's policy of not entering direct talks with residents groups would remain. "We have no problem in sitting on a forum in which all of the interested parties in the city are involved," he said. "Our policy on face-to-face talks is clear. The Orange Order will enter any forum to defend the culture and set out our stall."

Earlier this week, the BRG warned that the parade had the potential to cause widespread disruption in the city.

Spokesman Donncha MacNiallais criticised what he termed "a lack of engagement" on the part of the Orange Order. He said that the attitude of the Orangemen could undermine successful processes involving residents and other loyal orders. "This type of proposal and initiative was tried and failed some years ago," Mr MacNiallais said. "We want a situation where the Orange Order will talk directly to us, not in a talking shop."

Some 6,000 Orangemen hope to march through Derry on July 12. The Order has not held a demonstration of that size in 13 years. The parade will be subject to a ruling by the Parades Commission.

Meanwhile, nationalists in south Antrim say they are prepared to "reach a hand across the divide" to their unionist counterparts ahead of a controversial Orange parade on June 28.

Residents from both sides of the community have clashed over parades through nationalist areas and the erection of flags and an Orange Order arch over Church Road in Glengormley.

Talks between the two sides have never got off the ground because the Orangemen insist they will only meet nationalist residents if the PSNI act as an intermediary. Nationalists say they are willing to sit down with the Orangemen but not with the PSNI.

The parade in two weeks time is followed by another on July 3 and two on the Twelfth. Following consultations between nationalist residents and local Sinn Féin representatives, they have agreed not to protest at this year's march or to oppose the erection of the wooden arch.

In return, residents ask parade organisers to control certain elements of the day's events. Sinn Féin councillor Martin Meehan said his party and local community representatives are prepared to sit down with those involved in the parade.

"What is needed is round table discussion," he said. Meanwhile tensions are mounting in north Belfast ahead of tonight's Tour of the North that will see more than 150 loyalists march past homes in Ardoyne.The Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group requested eleventh hour talks with the Parades Commission to see if it would review its decision, but the commission did not want to enter into further negotiations.Joe Marley, a spokesperson for the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group, said,"We requested a review after we learned that the PSNI told the Parades Commission that they had consulted with us over the organisation of a protest when the march passes."As no such consultation took place we decided to request a review with the Parades Commission but they would not meet us."Mr Marley told Daily Ireland, "Tensions are heightened in the area and the role of our group will be to ensure that tonight's protest is carried out in a peaceful manner."Tonight's protest has been planned to take place on the Crumlin Road from 7.45pm.

Copyright © 2005 Daily Ireland