Anger over Kingsmill march decision
The Parades Commission has imposed restrictions on a controversial march to commemorate the victims of the Kingsmill massacre, which will take place in south Armagh later this month.
The victims’ Group FAIR organising the parade want to retrace the route of ten Protestant workmen, who were shot dead by gunmen after the bus they were travelling in was ambushed on their way home from work on 5 January 1976.
Eleven armed men – who used the cover name of the South Armagh Republican Action Force – forced their victims to reveal their religion before lining them up and shooting them 36 years ago.
The parades watchdog said the march scheduled to take place on Saturday 25 February can go ahead, with restrictions.
In its determination, it says only survivors and two immediate relatives of those who were killed or injured in the attack are allowed to proceed through the mainly nationalist village of Whitecross and along the Kingsmill Road to the memorial.
Other participants, including event organiser William Frazer, will have to make their way to the memorial through a different route.
The Parades Commission has also ruled that there should be “no placards, flags, banners or regalia” carried in the procession and that it “begins and disperses promptly”, without “undue stoppages or delays”.
“The Commission hopes to have reached an outcome, recognising the particular needs of immediate family members of those killed or injured at Kingmills, that will allow the people of Whitecross to stand shoulder to shoulder with them”, the watchdog said.
But Mr Frazer has told UTV the conditions imposed by the watchdog are “unacceptable”.
“How do you choose which two in a family will walk the route?” he asked.
“A lot of them are elderly people; they’re mothers and wives of individuals who were killed, but they’re also children and grand-children who want to walk these footsteps as well, because it’s the last journey that their fathers, grand-fathers, brothers or husbands took,” he told UTV.
“To put a restriction like this is unbelievable.”
Earlier this week, Sinn Féin and the SDLP said the march was aimed at stirring up sectarian tensions in Whitecross.
Newry & Armagh Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy said he was disappointed with the determination.
“The organisers of this march are intent on damaging the good community relations in this area and the determination helps them succeed in that.
“I have made representations on behalf of and in support of the residents affected by this blatantly inflammatory march and there is huge disappointment in the Whitecross area over the decision.
“The people of the area want to be left in peace and rather than confronting the organisers, the Parades Commission has just created problems that could damage community relations in Whitecross and surrounding areas.”
But local DUP representative William Irwin said: “None of these families want to cause offence, they simply want to highlight that, after 35 years, no one has been brought to justice for the murder of their loved ones.
“Those who have rallied against the families’ right to hold such a walk are not helping to build a shared future but rather are stirring up tensions.”
