Orange Order hymn tune restrictions
The Orange Order has demanded a meeting with the Secretary of State and the Justice Minister after a parading watchdog ruled it has to play one particular hymn tune as the parade passes a flashpoint in East Belfast on Sunday.
The Parades Commission ordered the music restriction will apply to the length of the Newtownards Road from Susan Street to the Bridge End flyover as marchers walk past St Matthew’s chapel.
The hymn tune ‘Eventide’ is only allowed to be played.
No.6 District are requesting urgent meetings with the Justice Minister, David Ford, whose Department has been dialoguing with the Loyal Orders and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Owen Paterson who is responsible for appointing the Commission.
Local Presbyterian minister and No.6 District LOL Chaplain Rev. Mervyn Gibson commented; ‘Not only is there no rhyme nor reason to this decision, the sad part is, at a local level, relations between communities have been improving’.
A spokesman for the Parades Commission said,
“The determination relating to the weekend represents a genuine effort on our part to accommodate the desire of the local lodge to parade and the expressed concerns of local residents”.
“In naming one specific, widely known and popular hymn, we are accommodating the parade while attempting to ensure that the music is sensitive, at an interface location past a place of worship, as indicated in the Parades Commission Code of Conduct”.
