Commission reroutes two parades but allows march

The Parades Commission has rerouted two contentious loyal order parades next Sunday, but has allowed an Orange march through a nationalist area of west Belfast on Saturday - the scene of disturbances in recent years.

The commission also denied a newspaper report that it has already decided to ban the Drumcree Orange parade down the nationalist Garvaghy Road on July 5th. The commission has yet to decide, it said.

Sunday's Orange parade in Bellaghy, Co Derry, will be barred from the town centre but allowed to proceed between the local Orange hall and the Church of Ireland church. An Orange parade in Belfast is also rerouted away from the nationalist Lower Ormeau Road.

On the Bellaghy decision, the commission said "relationships between the communities are not considered to be conducive to parades taking place along the entire route in an atmosphere free from conflict". On the Lower Ormeau, it said "conditions do not yet exist to enable a parade to take place on this part of the Ormeau Road in an atmosphere of calm and tolerance".

The commission expressed the hope that the loyal orders on the Ormeau Road will respond to a recent initiative by local churches to try to resolve the issue.

No conditions are being imposed on the Whiterock Orange parade on Saturday which passes along a nationalist stretch of the Springfield Road in west Belfast. Local nationalists say they will stage a counter demonstration.

The annual parade has resulted in street disturbances in recent years. The Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, described the decision as "incomprehensible and disgraceful". He said that "in an attempt to prevent a confrontation over the parade" he offered to try to achieve an accommodation with the Whiterock Orange lodge, but it had not replied to his letter.

He said the commission's decision "flies in the face of the Good Friday Agreement, which very specifically assures citizens that there will be freedom from sectarian harassment". On Saturday parts of the nationalist Springfield Road "will suffer a provocative military presence amounting to a curfew".

Mr Pat McCaffery, of the Springfield Residents' Group, accused the commission of having made its decision to allow the parade last Thursday, although it met the group to discuss the issue on the following day. He expected more than 1,000 nationalists to take part in the protest.

Mr McCaffery claimed the commission had attempted to "lay the blame for any disorder in the past at the door of nationalist protesters, thus vindicating the invasion of our area by the Orange Order and the repressive measures adapted by the RUC to facilitate it".

Ms Margaret Walsh, an SDLP councillor, called on the Orange Order to voluntarily reroute the Whiterock parade away from the nationalist part of the Springfield Road. "Such an initiative would create an opportunity for a more open debate on the future of this parade," she added.

The Parades Commission denied a report in yesterday's Cork Examiner that it has taken a decision to ban the Drumcree parade from the Garvaghy Road.

He said under its ground rules the commission is required to leave itself open to public representations, views or advice on how to resolve the issue up to 10 days before the parade is due to take place. As that stage would not arrive until Thursday of this week the commission could not under its rules make a decision at this time, added the spokesman.

The commission, where "possible", is also required to announce its decision five working days ahead of the Drumcree parade. Ultimately, it will be for the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, to determine, possibly on the day, whether the parade can be allowed. Mr Flanagan stated at the weekend his determination to enforce the commission's decision.

Members of the Orange Order in Scotland have already contacted local lodges in Portadown to promise "men on the ground" should the Drumcree parade be rerouted.