Parties clash over republican 'truth' march

Assembly report:Unionist, nationalist and Alliance members clashed in the Assembly chamber yesterday during a debate about a republican march for "truth" held in Belfast during the summer.

The DUP accused Sinn Féin of hypocrisy about its preparedness to fully confront the truth, while the SDLP and Alliance parties accused DUP "backbenchers" of attempting to provoke unnecessary conflict and disagreement.

DUP Assembly member Nelson McCausland, proposing the motion condemning the "Sinn Féin sponsored" republican parade in Belfast on August 12th, said it was "one of the most disgraceful episodes we have seen in the centre of our capital city for quite a long time".

He complained of republican paramilitary trappings around the parade including bands depicting IRA symbolism or "named after IRA terrorists; anyone who is a member of the Irish Republican Army is a terrorist".

The march and rally, with Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams the main speaker, dealt with the need to address the truth around alleged British state collusion with loyalism.

Early in the debate Mr McCausland made way for an intervention from DUP colleague Mervyn Storey who said that republicans should be the last group to march for the truth when they refused to acknowledge their sectarian campaign of violence and when "Gerry Adams has a continual problem of accepting the fact he was a member of the IRA".

SDLP MLA Alban Maginness, proposing an amendment deploring "any parades that include depictions of terrorism" said the DUP motion was as "hypocritical and prejudiced as the march that it purports to criticise".

The motion was selective and was a gimmick to give the DUP backbenchers an Orange glow in their tummies, he said.

Ulster Unionist deputy leader Danny Kennedy described the parade as "fancy dress with menace" and a "ghoulish gathering".

Alliance MLA Naomi Long said the motion was equivalent to "poking a dog with a stick to provoke a reaction" and that "cross-chamber baiting" served no productive purpose.

Leader of the Sinn Féin Assembly group John O'Dowd said the DUP motion was a "waste of time".

He queried why "a peaceful parade in Belfast" was being debated and why no DUP member had tabled similar motions about recent loyalist paramilitary attempts to kill or injure PSNI officers or about UDA actions.

The DUP motion, with the support of the UUP, was carried by 41 votes to 31.