20 September 2012

Parades Commission Delays Covenant Parade Decision

The Parades Commission has deferred its decision on a contentious Orange Order march later this month.

The body said delaying the decision for several days would allow further talks to take place.

The march on September 29 is part of events marking the centenary of the Ulster Covenant against Home Rule.

But it comes after a summer in which parades have been controversial in various parts of Northern Ireland and tensions around marching bands have given rise to civil disorder in north Belfast and Rasharkin.

The Orange Order has told Belfast traders the parade on September 29 will have left the city centre by 1.30pm.

It has decided to only play hymns when passing St Patrick's Catholic Church in Donegall Street, following talks with clergy and community leaders.

But speaking to the News Letter, spokesman Rev Mervyn Gibson said the Order had not spoken to the Carrick Hill Concerned Residents Association because there was "no point" and it had already spoken to local parishioners.

Mr Gibson said the Ulster Covenant was "Northern Ireland's birth certificate" and the centenary celebrations would be some of the most important in recent memory.

He said: "There seems to be a deliberate attempt to mar the occasion."

A Parades Commission spokesman said it had been "heartened by the level of local contact which has taken place".

(NE)