A parade by members of three Orange lodges passed off peacefully in Bellaghy, Co Derry, yesterday. The Parades Commission had imposed restrictions on the route, which resulted in a diversion away from the village's main Catholic housing estate.
Mr Jim Hasson, spokesman for the Bellaghy Concerned Residents' Group, said that its members had decided not to protest as a mark of respect to the three young brothers who were murdered in the Ballymoney arson attack. "We were given assurances by the police and we gave them assurances. However, we feel, following the murders, that Orangemen who say they are Christians should have called off the parade altogether", he said.
There was a heavy security presence to prevent any confrontation between residents and Orangemen who paraded yesterday in the predominantly nationalist town of Downpatrick in Co Down. Fears of a confrontation receded when nationalists scaled down their protests in the wake of the Ballymoney fire tragedy. A planned sit-down was replaced with a blackflag protest. Lodges and bands from five Co Down districts took part in the parade, the first in Downpatrick for 15 years.