Apprentice Boys parade gets go-ahead

A loyalist Easter band parade has been given the green light to go through the flashpoint nationalist lower Ormeau Road in Belfast.

It will be the first time the Apprentice Boys of Derry have been allowed to cross the Ormeau Bridge since August l999.

The Parades Commission said the band would not be allowed to play music as the march made its way along the lower Ormeau on Easter Monday.

Residents said they were surprised by the decision.

Michael Goodman of the lower Ormeau residents association said: "Absolutely nothing has been done to change the decision to a ban on a parade last November."

In its ruling, the commission said there had been clear evidence of considerable efforts by the Apprentice Boys and residents to reach agreement on parades.

It added: "This dialogue has been sustained and meaningful, notwithstanding spasmodic breaks. It is regrettable that it has not produced agreement or acquiescence."

The commission said it did not accept any right of unlawful or violent protest and it looked to the residents to "conduct their protest with the same law-abiding dignity which the Apprentice Boys have shown on every occasion which their parades have been re-routed" .

There have been several violent clashes involving police and nationalists protesting against Apprentice Boys and Orange Order parades.

The worst violence has been at Drumcree, Portadown, Co Armagh, where Orangemen demanding the right to walk the nationalist Garvaghy Road have been involved in a stand-off with police and troops for more than 1,000 days.