THE VIOLENCE, and its continuing aftermath, that marred the end of an overwhelmingly peaceful Orange festival this week should not divert attention from the achievements of Northern Ireland’s peace process. Substantial progress has been made this year on loyalist decommissioning, policing and North-South co-operation.
Power-sharing withstood a major challenge last March when two young soldiers and a police officer were murdered by dissident republicans; it must not be deflected by these latest provocations from the same quarter. As Taoiseach Brian Cowen told the Dáil, the agreement “reinforces the need for politics to be seen to work”.
Mr Gerry Adams put the incidents usefully in context on Tuesday. “Let’s get all of this in proportion, there were about 100 parades yesterday, there are 3,000 Orange parades annually, there are about six contentious parades and [the] disturbances . . . involved a very, very small minority of people”. He called for direct dialogue between Orange officials and his party at local level to identify, and, if possible, resolve contentious parades. Along with other prominent Sinn Féin figures, he denounced the violence as sectarian, reprehensible and organised by dissident republicans. That response represents genuine progress in power-sharing, and should be reciprocated by Orange organisations, loyalists and unionist politicians.
Despite its localised nature this was some of the worst street violence seen in the North for several years. It involved groups of teenagers, reportedly from outside the immediate area, using bricks, stones and petrol-filled bottles thrown at police lines. Independent reporters said dissident activists were seen in the Ardoyne area directing the protests. A number of organisations critical of Sinn Féin’s involvement in power-sharing have developed in recent years with a clear interest in provoking such violence by a calculated campaign of bomb scares and threats. They can grow only if the peace process loses momentum and fails to deliver a better life for most of the people in Northern Ireland. So far there is little sign of that. But, unless existing commitments are delivered on, frustrations can grow.
Progress needs to be made now on devolving policing and justice powers to the Northern Executive. These incidents must not be used to sow doubts about that process. Delays in negotiating these powers ahead of the European Parliament elections and because of political uncertainty in London were tactical by the Democratic Unionist Party but could now be self-defeating if it genuinely wants to maintain the executive’s authority.
Once policing and justice powers are in place it would become more possible to control parades on a genuinely cross-party basis, along with the Parades Commission,without giving dissidents the excuse of blaming violence on high-handed actions by the PSNI rather than themselves.