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Orange Order non presenta richiesta per la parata di Portadown

Orange Order fails to seek Drumcree permission

Portadown Orangemen have refused to apply for permission from the Parades Commission to march at Drumcree this year.

Drumcree, Orange OrderIt is the first time they have failed to do so since 1998, having previously filed weekly applications despite being refused each time.

Their failure to submit the appropriate form by the June 6 deadline would render part of the parade illegal, if it went ahead.

The annual Drumcree stand-off centres around the Lodge’s contentious bid to parade from the local church along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road.

During crunch talks at Hillsborough, the DUP and Sinn Fein agreed on draft legislation which could see the Parades Commission dissolved.

They later unveiled plans for the oversight body to be replaced by two groups – one to administer parade applications or objections and to facilitate talks, while a second adjudicating body would make rulings where agreement cannot be found.

Upper Bann SDLP MLA and Policing Board member, Delores Kelly, told UTV it was a “worrying development”.

“We in the SDLP had warned the British Government and others at Hillsborough that they should not mess around with the Parades Commission – that as a consequence of it, others would try to mess around with parades this year,” she said.

“This is obviously going to lead to a degree of tension in the Portadown area – an area where people had hoped the Garvaghy Road issue had been resolved.”

Garvaghy Road Resident CoalitionGarvaghy Road Residents Coalition spokesman Brendan Mac Cionnath has claimed the move has been “deliberately designed to stoke up tensions and boost numbers at Drumcree.”

“It is clear the Orange Order in Portadown are of the firm belief that current draft legislation on parades which will see the demise of the Parades Commission may lead to future Orange parades being permitted to proceed without route restrictions.” he said.

“As such, it is clear that Order has decided, as a result of that belief, to engage in a game of brinkmanship with the current Parades Commission and, in doing so, to unnecessarily raise tensions in Portadown and elsewhere.”

It comes as the marching season gets into full swing, with the Tour of the North taking place in north Belfast on Friday night.

Trouble has flared at the flashpoint Ardoyne shops area in previous years and a feeder parade past the shops there has been banned.

[flv:/flv_video/ww_parade_18062010.flv 590 350]
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René Querin

Di professione grafico e web designer, sono appassionato di trekking e innamorato dell'Irlanda e della sua storia. Insieme ad Andrea Varacalli ho creato e gestisco Les Enfants Terribles.

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