Loyalists accuse parades body of "sectarian apartheid"

Loyalists blocked from walking through flashpoint areas of Belfast have accused the body ruling on controversial marches of carrying out a campaign of sectarian apartheid.

Amid fears of street violence when the Apprentice Boys of Derry pass through fiercely divided parts of the city later today, its general committee launched a stinging attack on the Parades Commission.

The body has imposed restrictions on several feeder marches, including those scheduled to pass the nationalist Ardoyne area in north Belfast - scene of riots between rival Protestant and Catholic factions last month - and the Lower Ormeau Road in the south of the city.

Apprentice Boys then travel to Derry to join the main parade, which has no restrictions in place after nationalist residents and loyalist marchers struck an agreement.

But in a statement the committee declared angrily: ‘‘The Parades Commission is a shambles.

"They claimed it has come down hardest on its branches which have tried to ease community tensions.

‘‘The Parades Commission naively, perhaps unwittingly, has become an institution of judicial apartheid, whatever its pious words to the contrary,’’ the statement added.

‘‘It effectively confirmed sectarian segregation of main arterial routes and of areas that have been generally accepted as shared space.’’

And stressing the Apprentice Boys have been forced into an unacceptable situation, the committee issued a veiled threat about future dialogue with the determining body.

‘‘In the coming weeks we will be discussing further with representatives of those clubs most under attack and we will be reviewing our position with respect to the Parades Commission in due course.’’

But a spokesman for the Commission insisted the rulings were based on legal considerations rather than doubts over the Apprentice Boys ability to oversee a peaceful parade.

‘‘It’s also bound by the provisions of human rights legislation,’’ he said.

‘‘Clearly it is open to anyone who thinks the Commission has got it wrong to seek a judicial review.’’