DUP rep wants July 12 to be like Mardi Gras

Northern Ireland's tourism chiefs were urged today to market the controversial and divisive Orange Order’s Battle of the Boyne celebrations like the Mardi Gras in New Orleans or France’s Bastille Day.

The Democratic Unionists’ Alex Easton insisted the summer marching season - involving parades by the Orange Order, Black Preceptory and Apprentice Boys - should be marketed in a more positive light to international visitors.