Ombudsman clears police over parade dispute

An investigation by the Police Ombudsman into the handling of the controversial Orange Parade and Nationalist protests on July 12 2004, in Ardoyne in north Belfast, has been ruled as "in general justifiable" and was overshadowed by intelligence reports that elements on both sides were planning violence.

In the Ombudsman's investigation into nationalist complaints about the operation, Mrs O`Loan cleared officers of misconduct claims over their failure to prevent loyalists hurling sectarian abuse at nationalist residents and added that there was evidence nationalist protesters also engaged in abusive language.

At the time of the incident, representatives of the Nationalist/Republican community - including Sinn Fein, the SDLP, and a group based in Ardoyne - lodged a number of complaints, including claims that police did not plan for and handle the parade impartially, and that the human rights of Nationalist residents in the area had been compromised.

However, while finding that police did not consult with Nationalists/Republicans prior to the parade in the same manner as they did Orangemen/Loyalists, the Police Ombudsman, Mrs Nuala O'Loan said that lack of a formal mechanism to allow consultation between police and Republicans was partly to blame for the violence which was to follow.

She added that there was evidence to show that police had attempted to balance the human rights of both parade supporters and protesters, while attempting to minimise the potential for violence.

The ombudsman also rejected an allegation that the police had been influenced by the NIO security minister.

The annual parade through Ardoyne has a long history of trouble focused on the area of the Crumlin Road between its junctions with the Woodvale and Hesketh roads.

At the time of the parade, the three Orange Lodges who were to march through the area, notified the Parades Commission, to inform them that they intended to march, while the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group also informed them that there was to be a protest.

The Parades Commission determined that marchers were allowed to parade past the area, but without bands, however the determination did not cover the issue of what the supporters should do.

Before the return leg of the parade, police erected banners between the marchers and their supporters and screens between the marchers and protesters, but when the lodges and their supporters passed through the area, violence erupted.

Police Ombudsman investigators who examined the circumstances surrounding the riots, sought witness statements, examined CCTV and news footage, police radio logs, a significant amount of police documentation from PSNI planning and operational meetings and all intelligence material which had been available to police.

(EF/SP)