US observers note paramilitary march influence

Two groups of US observers who monitored Orange Order parades in the North last year have criticised what they said was a loyalist paramilitary presence at the marches.

The Irish Parades Emergency Committee and the Brehon Law Society have been monitoring Orange parades in the North for the past 10 years.

Their report on last year’s marches details a high level of paramilitary involvement in the parades.

Copies of the document have been presented to the Irish, British and US governments, as well as the PSNI, the Parades Commission, the Police Ombudsman and the North’s political parties.

The report, entitled Marching and Disorder, provides photographic evidence that the north Belfast commander of the UDA led one parade in the Ardoyne area last year along with other chanting UDA supporters.

It said British soldiers and riot police escorted the man and his supporters through the nationalist area, which had been sealed off for several hours in advance of the march.

The report also documented the presence of loyalist paramilitaries at other parades and the impact of intense British army and police activity in areas where contentious marches were taking place.