Drumcree Orangemen submit parade form
PORTADOWN Orangemen had a late change of heart last night and submitted an 11/1 form to seek permission for their Drumcree Sunday parade – with the event just five days away.
The about-turn follows confirmation by the PSNI that the public prosecution service has issued summonses for prosecution on 15 people who allegedly took part in an unnotified parade in the Lurgan area on January 23 this year.
Portadown District officers were angry that it appeared as if the Lurgan parade was being ignored by the authorities. They claimed while they have assiduously applied every year, and every Sunday when they hold a weekly protest, “illegal republican and nationalist parades were being ignored”.
The Orangemen had issued a statement saying they had decided not to submit the 11/1 form for permission this Drumcree Sunday, but they changed their minds after they met secretary of state Owen Paterson at Stormont and then learned of the Lurgan summonses.
Mr Paterson suggested that breaking the law would be counter-productive for the Orangemen and this was followed by the PSNI issuing a statement that 15 people had been issued with summonses on the Lurgan parade. The statement added: “A lengthy and robust investigation was conducted following the parade, and a further investigation remains ongoing into a subsequent unnotified parade over the Easter period.”
Craigavon area commander, chief inspector Anthony McNally, said: “We take the issue of unnotified parades very seriously, and in each incident, seek to protect the public, preserve public order, and gather evidence with a view to prosecuting those who break the law.”
Portadown District Orange Master Darryl Hewitt said: “We are now satisfied that action is being taken on the illegal Lurgan parade. We have no wish to break the law, but until now it has been a case of one law for the loyalist community and another for nationalists. In the light of these prosecutions, we have decided to submit the necessary form.”
He added that the officers had taken the decision yesterday morning, although the submission of the 11/1 form is still late, with a required 28 days’ notice. However, last year’s form was submitted a week before the march and the authorities turned a blind eye.
Mr Hewitt said: “We have consistently asked for face-to-face talks with the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition (GRRC), without preconditions, but they don’t want to know, and the Parades Commission is doing nothing to accommodate those talks.”
The commission, though, has insisted it is doing all it can to persuade the two sides to get together, while
Joe Duffy – chairman of the GRRC – said: “It’s a dead duck and the time has come to move on.”
