05/07/2005

Kelly hits out at parade decision

Sinn Fein assembly member for north Belfast Gerry Kelly has hit out at the Parades Commission’s decision to allow an Orange Order parade to pass the mainly nationalist Ardoyne area of the city on July 12th.

The Commission said that while the parade could pass the Ardoyne shops on the morning of the ‘Twelfth’, restrictions would be imposed on band music and the conduct of supporters.

Mr Kelly described the decision as “deeply flawed and without logic” and that it would cause “widespread anger” throughout the local community.

“When the Parades Commission make determinations like this they fly in the face of efforts to maintain calm and ensure people can live peacefully and without fear during the marching season,” Mr Kelly said. “This decision has created a very difficult situation.”

Elsewhere, Orangemen have again been banned from marching along Portadown's Garvaghy Road after Sunday's Drumcree service.

The Drumcree parade has passed off peacefully in recent years however Orangemen have not walked down the route since 1997.

Sinn Féin Assembly member for Upper Bann John O'Dowd said the Parades Commission could have come to no other decision than to re-route the parade.

(MB)

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