Politicians appeal for calm ahead of Whiterock parade

Local politicians have appealed for calm ahead of this weekend’s Whiterock parade in Belfast.

It comes as the Orange Order said it plans to defy restrictions placed on it by the Parades Commission which says the Order must go though the former Mackies factory site on Saturday. The Order had requested a route via Workman Avenue, off the mainly nationalist Springfield Road in west Belfast.

The DUP's Nelson McCausland said marchers and supporters should behave in a "dignified manner" while Sinn Fein’s Alex Maskey said he and his party would be working with local residents to try and “maintain calm”.

Security Minister Shaun Woodward also appealed for calm and called on “all who are influential in the communities to achieve a peaceful outcome to this weekend”.

Belfast's senior police commander, Assistant Chief Constable Duncan McCausland said that he and his officers would continue to work with local communities and their representatives to ensure that Saturday’s Whiterock parade was peaceful and lawful.

"Communities have the right to parade and to protest but with those rights come responsibilities,” Mr McCausland said. “People have a right to parade as long as they do it peacefully and within the law. They also have a right to protest, peacefully and within the law. The Police Service will do all in its power to facilitate both of these situations."

Last year, at the eleventh hour, the commission reversed its original decision and allowed Orangemen to walk part of the route, with a number of conditions.

Last weekend trouble erupted in Ardoyne after Friday's ‘Tour of the North’ Organe Order parade was allowed to pass the nearby nationalist area.

(MB)