Loyalists banned from marching through nationalist area of south Belfast
Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission has banned a loyalist parade from marching through a nationalist area of south Belfast to prevent potential disorder. The decision has been welcomed by local political representatives who emphasize the importance of maintaining peace in interface areas.
Why it matters
It reflects the ongoing sensitivity of sectarian tensions in Northern Ireland and the regulatory efforts to manage public order.
Northern Irelands’ Parades Commission has determined that an Apprentice Boys parade cannot march along the mainly nationalist lower Ormeau Road in south Belfast .
The Belfast Walker Club had applied to hold a parade from Ballynafeigh Orange Hall along the Ormeau Road and across the Ormeau Bridge to the lower Ormeau Road and on to Donegall Pass.
Loyal-order parades have not been permitted on the lower Ormeau Road since disorder in the area in the 1990s.
On Thursday, the Parades Commission published its determination.
It ruled that the parade on its outward route was prohibited from crossing Ormeau Bridge at its junction with Annadale Embankment, and from entering that section of Ormeau Road between the junction of Ormeau Bridge and Annadale Embankment and the junction of Ormeau Road and Havelock Bridge.
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