Dire warning by police chief unhelpful
The auspicious date has ever been fraught with trouble, because July 12, the date of a 17th century battlefield victory over Catholics, marks the official start of the Orange marching season and too often has been the fuse which lit the tinderbox that is Northern Ireland.
The tenuous chance that the day would pass off in relative quiet, or at least without riotous behaviour, could have been doomed as soon as Mr McQuillan warned of a republican onslaught being unleashed.
It was inconceivable that, on the night before the Twelfth, he should state that republicans had stockpiled large quantities of petrol bombs, acid bombs and various other missiles to attack police lines as the Orangemen marched near the nationalist Ardoyne area of Belfast.
Such injudicious timing of the statement guaranteed that the tension which existed anyway was bound to be increased considerably. Instead of endeavouring to dampen down the potentially volatile situation, Mr McQuillan managed to fuel loyalist anger and simultaneously incense republicans who were being accused of something which had not happened.
Mr McQuillan’s “warning” also has the potential to inflict damage on the very peace process itself. He accused Sinn Féin of planning to bus hundreds of republicans in from other parts of Belfast and elsewhere in Northern Ireland for what could be the biggest mass attack on the security forces for many years.
In ascribing to one of the parties to the Good Friday Agreement, some of whose members are ministers in the devolved government, subversive motions, he has encouraged the loyalist and unionist clamour to have them ejected from it. First Minister David Trimble is engaged on a campaign to have Sinn Féin removed from the Executive, maintaining, as he does, that they are responsible for every outbreak of republican violence.
Mr McQuillan reinforced this ill-conceived conviction in uttering what can only be described as a prejudicial statement based solely on unspecified “intelligence reports,” sources which have proved less than reliable in the past.
In considering the onus for the continuing appalling violence in Northern Ireland, this one-sided view was debunked by the members of the Orange Order who last weekend wreaked a nakedly savage attack on Mr McQuillan’s colleagues at Drumcree, inflicting serious injuries upon them. That occasion was remarkable for the more benign approach the police adopted in implementing a security policy which was much more relaxed than previous Drumcree protests would have indicated it warranted.
Yesterday, apart from chanting and jeering at the Orange parade as it passed the flashpoint at Ardoyne, there were no clashes at that critical stage, despite the dire warnings of the police.
The subsequent lack of violence, thankfully, must beg the question as to why the Assistant Chief Constable felt compelled to level such unsustained accusations against republicans, and specifically against Sinn Féin.
It was unhelpful in the extreme.
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