Rasharkin Parade Gets Green Light

It has emerged that a contentious loyal order parade in Co Antrim is to be allowed.

And while a protest is expected to be staged by a residents' association based in the village of Rasharkin, the NI Parades Commission has again ruled in favour of the previously contested march.

On Friday week, 21st August, Ballymaconnelly Sons of Conquerors Flute Band and 40 other bands will take part in the parade in the parade along Church Road, Main Street, Bridge Street, as well as through the Moneyleck area.

This is in spite of there having been sectarian tensions in the area, with petrol bombs and bricks thrown at police during a parade through the village on 13 July, injuring three officers.

Rasharkin Orange Hall has been vandalised on a number of occasions and just last weekend, there were two paint attacks at the building on Main Street.

Politicians are divided, with Sinn Féin MLA Daithi McKay condemning the Parades Commission's decision as "absolutely ridiculous given the current problems that exist in Rasharkin".

He said businesses in the village would have to close and added: "Going on past behaviour at this parade, I have no doubt that many residents will be forced to leave due to intimidation".

However, the DUP Assembly member Ian Paisley Junior said the bands have a right to parade in Rasharkin.

"I think its absolutely essential that the wrong information and deliberate caricature that is being painted of this band competition is dispelled."

He also said that "the suggestion that any of these bands have links with paramilitaries is, quite frankly, not true".

The Parades Commission has also placed a restriction on the number of people who will be able to take part in a protest planned by Rasharkin Residents' Association.

Residents had planned to stage a protest involving up to 200 people from 7.40pm to 10pm, if the event was allowed to proceed.

But the commission decided that this was a "very large number of people in a small space" and have restricted the number of people who can attend to 130, a spokesman said last night.

Meanwhile, a nationalist Ancient Order of Hibernians parade, accompanied by the Sons of Ireland flute band, has been given the go-head by the commission to take place in Rasharkin tomorrow night.

Nationalist politicians also hold strong opinions with the SDLP MLA Declan O'Loan heavily criticising Sinn Féin for its stance on the forthcoming band parade in Rasharkin.

"They are heavily involved in the official protest. They have gone out of their way to underline the contentious nature of the parade.

"In doing so they are playing into the hands of the more extreme loyalists.

As a direct result of Sinn Féin's actions, we can be sure of one of the biggest parades in recent years, and the attitude of some of the bands is not likely to be good. The potential for trouble exists particularly when there is a scheduled protest.

"In the light of recent attacks on Orange Halls and Catholic Churches as well as the fact some Protestant families have left the village, the response has been irresponsible and rather than contributing to good order and community relations, they have done the opposite," he insisted this afternoon.

"There are serious issues to be addressed when a loyalist band parade wants to go through a village that is 80% Catholic.

"However, there is in Rasharkin a tolerance and a willingness to dialogue that Sinn Féin do not recognise."

(BMcC/KMcA)