A controversial loyalist parade to have been held today down the lower Ormeau Road has been cancelled due to foot-and-mouth. The Apprentice Boys were to march along the road on their way into the city centre where they were to board buses to the main parade in Limavady, Co Derry.
The Lower Ormeau Concerned Community group had organised a protest rally, and residents were planning to block the road. Observers feared there could be a confrontation with the RUC.
A spokesman for the Apprentice Boys said cancelling the march in Limavady because of the new foot-and-mouth cases was the only responsible action possible in the circumstances. It had been taken in the greater interests of everyone in Northern Ireland, he said.
The Belfast Walker Club of the Apprentice Boys said it now hoped a "reasonable accommodation" could be found with lower Ormeau residents about future parades.
An Apprentice Boys spokesman, Mr Tommy Cheevers, said both sides had to believe that such an accommodation was possible. If positive attitudes were adopted, then "decent and tolerant" community relations were possible in south Belfast, he said.