No loyalist band in Ardoyne march
A flute band commemorating a loyalist killer will not be allowed to march through Ardoyne next month, the Parades Commission has ruled.
The Shankill Star Flute Band, which pays tribute to UVF gunman Brian Robinson, had applied to accompany a lodge to pass by the north Belfast interface.
The Parades Commission prohibited the band from marching alongside the Ligoniel Walker Club Apprentice Boys of Derry.
A statement from the commission said: “The band and supporters are prohibited from that part of the notified route between the junction of Crumlin Road and Hesketh Road and the junction of Woodvale Road and Woodvale Parade.”
It says that while the parade’s organisers have never been involved in misbehaviour, nationalist political parties and residents considered the choice of bands “provocative”.
The organisers have also been ordered to make sure the event “begins and disperses promptly”, and that an adequate number of stewards are on hand to keep behaviour “orderly”.
The Parades Commission adds that it would have been “improper” not to give significant consideration to the rioting in the Ardoyne area over the Twelfth this year before drawing its conclusions.
SDLP councillor for north Belfast Nicola Mallon said: “The decision not to allow the deliberately offensive Shankill Star Flute Band, which commemorates UVF Killer Brian Robinson, to pass through Ardoyne and the home of one of his victims is to be welcomed.”
Sinn Féin North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly has also welcomed the decision.
“I welcome the fact that the Parades Commission has taken the decision to bar this loyalist band, which is in essence a tribute to Brian Robinson, from walking past the area where he murdered Paddy McKenna. It is the right decision”, he said.
