The Orange Order has been accused of breaching an agreement which has brought several years of relative peace to a former North Belfast parading flashpoint.
Since 2016 there has been no conflict along the once contentious Crumlin Road after an agreement between nationalist residents and local Orange lodges. However, for the second time in two weeks, the Parades Commission – which is an independent body which adjudicates on contentious parades – has rejected two applications from local Orange lodges to march along the route.
In one determination the Parades Commission said the application “is a wanton disregard for the efforts made in acutely difficult circumstances to achieve a local agreement and an egregious disregard for the six years of peace it secured.”
With a week to go before the July Twelfth parades nationalist politicians in the north of Belfast have welcomed the Parades Commission decisions. Sinn Féin MLA Gerry Kelly said the first application to parade was “clearly in breach of an agreement in 2016 between the Crumlin Ardoyne Residents’ Association and the three Ligoniel lodges which has brought seven years of peace to the Crumlin Road and eased community tensions.”
Meanwhile, in County Armagh the once contentious Drumcree Parade along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown has once more hit the headlines. Twenty-five years after the last Orange parade was banned, the DUP is pressing for Orangemen to be permitted to walk the route this year.
After a meeting with the Parades Commission, Upper Bann DUP MP Carla Lockhart said: “What is becoming increasingly clear is the Parades Commission has no desire to ever see a resolution to this issue that will see any Orange parade proceed along Garvaghy Road.
“That can be the only conclusion when one considers that those who are willing to engage in dialogue, namely Portadown District, continue to be penalized whilst those who refuse to engage in mediation secure determinations form the Commission in their favor.”
