A contentious Orange Order feeder parade past the Ardoyne shops in north Belfast took place peacefully this morning.
There was a heavy police presence as two loyalist bands led Orangemen and some of their supporters past two nationalist protests at the shops this morning.
Some nationalists blew whistles and there was some taunting between nationalists and loyalists at the flashpoint but otherwise the parade which took a few minutes to process beyond the shops concluded peacefully.
The Orangemen were marching to the main parade which has started in Belfast. It features some 10,000 Orangemen and women, about 70 bands, with many thousands more spectating along the roadside.
In all there are 18 Orange Order parades and one Independent Orange Order parades taking place across Northern Ireland today. The vast majority of parades take place without incident.
This morning’s north Belfast protests were staged by the Crumlin and Ardoyne Residents’ Association (Cara), which supports Sinn Féin, and the Greater Ardoyne Residents Coalition (Garc), which is viewed as being sympathetic to dissident republicanism.
The Cara protesters unveiled a large banner stating “Resolution is Possible” as the Orange parade passed by. The more heavily policed Garc protesters carried posters with messages such as “March where you’re welcome”, “Treat our community with respect” and “No parades, no violence”.
The bands, the Saltcoats Protestant Band and the Pride of Motherwell Band, played “John Brown’s Body” and “Abide With Me” as they went by the shops in quite heavy rain. A police helicopter hovered overhead as the parade went past the protests.
For the first time a Christian group with “John 3:7” and “Love Your Neighbour” banners mingled amid the protesters.
Police will be relieved that the feeder parade concluded so well but the main concern is close to the same flashpoint this evening when returning Orangemen are banned from processing by the shops. They will be stopped by police lines close to the top of the Woodvale Road about 300 metres from the shops.
The PSNI chief constable George Hamilton was at Ardoyne this morning. He hoped for a peaceful day but warned that “if people break the law they will be brought before the courts”.
Sinn Féin Assembly member Gerry Kelly said the annual dispute over the three north Belfast Orange lodges seeking to parade by the shops could be resolved through dialogue. “Residents have been regularly asking for dialogue,” he said.
“There is a way forward. I think we are closer now than we ever were to finding a resolution. We need stamina but we are up for talking,” added Mr Kelly. “All I want today is a peaceful protest, a peaceful march and respect shown.”
The PSNI has 3,000 officers policing the parades with 1,500 allocated to Belfast where three of the most contentious parades take place - on the Newtownards Road in east Belfast close to the nationalist Short Strand; on Donegall Street at St Patrick’s Church near the city centre; and this evening on the Woodvale Road close to the Ardoyne shops in north Belfast.
Senior police officers have warned that “tensions are high” among loyalists and have appealed to the Orange Order to ensure there is tight marshalling of the most difficult parades, particularly in north Belfast this evening, to try to ensure a relatively calm outcome .
