Loyalist parade prohibited from marching along lower Ormeau Road
Loyal Order parades have been banned from the road in south Belfast since violent scenes in the 1990s.
A loyalist parade has been told it cannot march along the lower Ormeau Road in Belfast.
The Belfast Walker Club, a branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, had applied to parade from Ballynafeigh Orange Hall along the Ormeau Road, across the Ormeau Bridge to the lower Ormeau Road to Donegall Pass where it planned to join a main parade to the cenotaph.
Loyal order parades have not been permitted to march on the lower Ormeau Road since disorder in the area in the 1990s.
The Lower Ormeau Concerned Community had applied for a protest at the parade.
On Thursday, the Parades Commission published its determination in the matter.
It ruled that the parade on its outward route is prohibited from crossing Ormeau Bridge at its junction with Annadale Embankment, or from entering that section of Ormeau Road between the junction of Ormeau Bridge and Annadale Embankment and the junction of Ormeau Road and Havelock Bridge.
It also re-affirmed the importance of respectful behaviour in the vicinity of interface areas, namely that there shall be no singing, chanting, or loud drumming and that marching should be dignified.
It urged no paramilitary style clothing to be worn at any time during the parade and that flags, bannerettes and symbols relating to a proscribed organisation should not be displayed.
In a statement to the Press Association, the c to perpetuate political distractions that would diminish the purpose of our parade and the greater meaning of the day for remembering.
“There will be no further comment by the Belfast Walker Club.”
The determination comes after a previous commission determination allowed the Drumcree Orange Order parade in Portadown to march along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years.
This sparked an almost, two-week stand-off after protesters blocked the Garvaghy Road, and police contended they could not safely escort the parade.
Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant stepped in to ban the parade.
On Wednesday, a High Court judge ruled that decision was lawful.
Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey welcomed the commission decision on the lower Ormeau.
“Today’s decision is the correct one, and I am glad the Parades Commission has reached this conclusion,” she said in a statement.
“There was never any basis or justification for taking the community of the lower Ormeau Road back 27 years.
“Sinn Féin will continue to stand fully with the lower Ormeau Road community.
“There is no going back. Not now. Not ever.”