The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland said he is “deeply saddened” that people of a predominantly Catholic area in Northern Ireland are facing “tension, fear and uncertainty” after a contentious Protestant parade was given the green light. Source: The Tablet.
A standoff between members of the loyalist Orange Lodge and local residents is ongoing following a decision by Northern Ireland’s Parades Commission to allow Orangemen to parade through the residential area in Portadown for the first time in 28 years.
About 2000 protesters blocked the parade from marching through the Catholic area on Sunday, with both sides refusing to disperse and police keeping them apart, The Age reported.
In his statement, the Primate of All Ireland Archbishop Eamon Martin said his first thoughts are with those for whom this situation brings back “deeply traumatic and painful memories”.
The loyalist parade was banned in the 1990s after it led to clashes and similar standoffs between local residents and the sectarian loyalist group.
Archbishop Martin said he shared the “shock and disappointment” of so many people at recent developments following the Parades Commission decision to allow the contentious parade.
Last July a decision to prevent the parade was made by the Parades Commission but it was challenged in Belfast’s High Court by members of the Orange Order.
In August, a judge quashed the Parades Commission ruling. The Orange Order then made a new application to hold their parade and this was granted by the Parades Commission last Friday.
The commission noted that the annual Drumcree Church parade “is one of, if not the most, contentious parades in Northern Ireland”.
Describing it as a “polarising” parade, the commission said banning it is seen by loyalists as a denial of civil liberties, while it reopens a sense of trauma and hurt for nationalists.
A number of Orangemen remain camped out at the Anglican Church in Drumcree, vowing not to leave until they can complete their march.
Appealing for prayers for a calm and a peaceful response from everyone involved, Archbishop Martin also appealed for support for the “patient use of solely lawful and democratic processes to resolve this deeply complex and emotive situation”.
FULL STORY
Archbishop ‘shocked’ as ‘polarising’ Orange Order parade returns to Portadown (By Sarah Mac Donald, The Tablet)
‘Madness’: Stand-off in Northern Ireland town as protesters block first Orangemen march in decades (By Cathal McNaughton and Amanda Ferguson, The Age)
