The Five Demands

Se i partiti politici non dovessero raggiungere un accordo sullo scottante argomento delle parate, la Parades Commission potrebbe essere riconfermata a gennaio

Owen Patterson, Segretario di Stato nordirlandese, giudica inaccettabile il mancato accordo dei partiti sulla questione delle parate e avverte: la Parades Commission il cui futuro pareva compromesso come risultato dell’Hillsborough Agreement, potrebbe essere riconfermata a gennaio del prossimo anno.
“Penso che la Parades Commission abbia fatto un buon lavoro, evitano di scontrarsi con la  polizia in merito a difficili decisioni riguardanti i percosi, e  hanno risolto la stragrande maggioranza delle parate. Non è assolutamente ipotizzabile lasciare un buco.”
L’Orange Order ha respinto il progetto di legislazione e si è rifiutato di prender parte alle consultazioni che hanno visto come oggetto la discussione, appunto, del “Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill” la cui creazione è tra i cardini fondamentali dell’accordo siglato presso l’Hillsborough Castle il febbraio scorso. Tale progetto passerà al vaglio dell’Assembly l’autunno prossimo.

Related Articles

• Owen Paterson: “It is absolutely not an option to leave a [Parades Commission] hole.” (sluggerotoole.com)
• Orange Order Votes To Retain Parades Commission (politics.ie)
• Orangeman condemns bill rejection (bbc.co.uk)
• “The content of this bill seeks to remove the Parades Commission…” (sluggerotoole.com)
• Order ‘rejects parades proposals’ (news.bbc.co.uk)

Minister warns over parades body (Newsletter)
The Parades Commission in Northern Ireland will be reappointed in January if local politicians fail to reach agreement on controversial marches, the Northern Ireland Secretary has said.
A power vacuum forcing police to decide the route of some parades would be unacceptable, Owen Paterson told a committee of MPs.
This July, dozens of police officers were injured in pitched battles with nationalist rioters at Ardoyne in north Belfast following a contentious Loyal Order parade through the area.
This summer the Orange Order rejected draft parades legislation and refused to take part in a consultation process.
But Mr Paterson warned the clock was ticking for local politicians to make up their minds.
“If they don’t we will have to set in train actions which will reappoint a Parades Commission by January next year,” he said.
The draft Public Assemblies, Parades and Protests Bill has already been consulted on and is due to go through the Northern Ireland Assembly this autumn.
It was drawn up following the report of the working group on parades set up following agreement on the devolution of policing and justice at Hillsborough.
Mr Paterson said he regretted the violence in Ardoyne which left 80 police injured in battles with suspected dissident republicans. One policewoman had a piece of masonry dropped on her head.
He added: “I think the Parades Commission has done a good job, it took away the difficulty of embroiling the police in difficult decisions on routing, they have resolved the vast majority of contentious parades. It is absolutely not an option to leave a hole.”