The Five Demands

Nessuno scontro al passaggio della parata all’interfaccia di Ardoyne

E’ stata un Apprentice Boys Parade tranquilla, quella che ha attraversato in mattinata l’interfaccia di Ardoyne, tra la massiccia presenza della PSNI.
Allo stato attuale nessuno scontro si è verificato.
Sono stati in 40 a sfilare accolta da una protesta nazionalista silenziosa e pacifica che ha esibito striscioni lungo il percorso.
Un Gerry Kelly ‘sollevato’ si è rallegrato per il mancato ripetersi degli scontri che avevano caratterizzato la Twelfth parade lo scorso mese di luglio, ma ha sottolineato come sia necessario l’apertura di un dialogo per porre fine alla questione delle parate orangiste.
Unico episodio di rilievo è stato l’alterco scoppiato davanti alle telecamere di BBC e Sky News, tra lo stesso Gerry Kelly e una dozzina di rappresentanti del GARC (Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective) accusati di aver pronunciato insulti contro la sua persona e contro 20/30 membri del CARA (Crumlin Ardoyne Residents’ Association) che avevano il compito di monitorare l’andamento della protesta nazionalista.
L’attenzione si sposta ora a Derry dove 15.000 persone e 140 bande prenderanno parte all’Apprentice Boys Parade, considerata la più grande parata del Loyal Orange Order dell’intera stagione.

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Ardoyne march passes peacefully (U TV)
A loyal order parade has passed a sectarian flashpoint in north Belfast without incident.
Security was tight at Ardoyne for the feeder parade by Apprentice Boys marchers on their way to their main demonstration in Londonderry.
But while the Ardoyne area was the scene of three days of rioting around an Orange Order parade on 12 July, there was no immediate repeat of the violence on Saturday morning.
The march passed off peacefully as about 40 Apprentice Boys marchers passed nationalists carrying banners who staged a silent protest.
Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly attended the protest and welcomed the fact that there was no repeat of the violence seen in July.
But he called for talks to broker a long term solution to parades disputes.
“This is a march through three Catholic areas just to get on a bus to go to Derry, he said.
“I suppose if there is a message out of this, it is that there needs to be dialogue.
“Let’s have dialogue, let’s not be doing this for the next ten years.”
Approximately 20 to 30 stewards from the nationalist Crumlin Ardoyne Residents’ Association (CARA) monitored the protest, placing representatives on top of shops that rioters had used as a platform to attack police in July.
Mr Kelly intervened in a small dispute with around 12 people linked to the Greater Ardoyne Residents Collective (GARC) after some of them had shouted abuse at police and at CARA members.
In July members of the GARC were removed from the same parade route by police after staging a sit down protest before the Orange Order march.
The small GARC group present on Saturday agreed to join the 60 to 80-strong protest by CARA.
Large numbers of police were held in reserve in the event of trouble, but a relatively low-key presence between protesters and marchers was enough to oversee Saturday morning’s events.
Focus will now shift to Derry where a major security operation will be in place for the main Apprentice Boys parade.
About 15,000 people and 140 bands are expected to take part in the main march which begins at about 12.30pm.
Stormont Justice Minister David Ford is among politicians of all hues appealing for calm.
Concerns centred on a protest planned by dissident republicans in Derry which was to coincide with the parade.
It was linked to a dispute between dissident inmates and officials in Maghaberry prison.
But the protest was cancelled after a deal was brokered earlier in the week to end the jail dispute.
The Apprentice Boys march marks the siege of Derry between 1688-89.
Saturday’s events follow some of the most serious rioting in recent years last month when 80 police officers were injured in clashes with republican protesters.
Youths hurling bricks and wielding iron bars and planks attacked officers in Ardoyne. Police fired baton rounds in response.
A total of 31 people were arrested later in north and west Belfast.
There have been weeks of talks aimed at defusing tensions ahead of this procession.