Rival groups ‘in dialogue’ over parade

Hopes of a peaceful summer marching season in the North grew tonight after an accommodation was reached between rival groups over a highly contentious parade due to take place in North Belfast .

Dialogue between loyalist and nationalist groups over the Tour of the North Orange parade on Friday evening prompted the Parades Commission to announce it would make no ruling on the main parade or its feeder parades.

The parade has often sparked violence between marches and nationalist residents and set the tone for further trouble in the weeks following.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Sir Reg Empey said: “This is a significant breakthrough which I warmly welcome.

“It is a very significant step forward and creates a positive context over the Whiterock Parade the following week.”

Last year the Whiterock parade was postponed when the Parades Commission refused to allow Orangemen to follow their chosen route.

When it did go ahead weeks later it sparked some of the worst street violence seen in the North in recent years.

The Parades Commission said tonight it had heard from a joint delegation representing the loyalist North and West Belfast Parades Forum and the nationalist Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group regarding the outcome of discussions facilitated by the commission.

Commission chairman Roger Poole said he was pleased to note the progress which had been made in the discussions and the emergence of an accommodation between the two sides in respect of the feeder parades associated with the Tour of the North parade.

Mr Poole said: “We acknowledge that the discussions are at a very early stage and that the whole question of parades in north Belfast requires a long term and sustainable solution.”

But he said: “Both sides in the area have committed their organisations to a prolonged process of dialogue which will continue into this summer and beyond. This is a significant commitment which the commission welcomes.”

He added: “The communities on both sides deserve a huge amount of credit for the way in which they have approached this very sensitive matter.

“They have brought to the discussions a degree of respect, trust and a willingness to resolve these issues in a way which benefits the entire community.”

He said while the developments were very welcome he wanted to emphasise that they were the first steps on a long road.

“What has been agreed in advance of Friday is the beginning of a process rather than a conclusion.”

Mr Poole said since he had arrived in Northern Ireland to take over as chairman of the Commission last November, he had been told people on the ground wanted to resolve matters over marches.

“The efforts of all concerned in this dialogue demonstrate that fact very clearly.”

He said he had also been told the Tour of the North parade often set the tone for the remainder of the marching season, especially in Belfast.

The Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group and the North and West Belfast Parades Forum had “demonstrated that accommodation can be reached without the surrender of valued principles.

“Hopefully that lesson can be taken on board across Belfast and across Northern Ireland,” said Mr Poole.

The Parades Commission had decided, at the request of both sides, that it would not issue a determination with respect of feeder parades along the Crumlin Road on Friday, he announced.