Two Belfast marches are re-routed by the Parades Commission

The first takes place on Saturday in west Belfast – the Whiterock Parade – and the second is on Sunday in the south of the city.

• PARADE ONE:

The first was submitted by No.9 Loyal Orange Lodge, and begins in the Shankill Road at 2pm on Saturday before heading west and south.

Press Eye - Belfast - Northern Ireland - 24th June 2023: The Whiterock parade in west Belfast takes place

Some 14 bands are listed on the 11/1, with 900 participants in the parade.

The commission says this: “The sensitivities about this parade centre on its notified route of under half-a-mile along the 'nationalist/republican Springfield Road’.

"The parade organiser has consistently emphasised the traditional significance of this part of the route to the No 9 District LOL, while the Springfield Residents' Action Group (SRAG) has stated that tensions are caused by the parade's past conduct on the Springfield Road, the continued refusal of the organiser to engage with residents, and by the organiser's notification to cross the peace line at Workman Avenue.

"The Commission has, in previous years, received complaints about aspects of the parade's conduct, including the carrying of banners displaying the names 'Samuel Rockett' and 'William Hanna', both deceased, who are both perceived to have associations with paramilitary organisations.”

It said that “the parade organiser has not engaged with the local community” and the SRAG has notified a protest of 250 participants located at the Springfield Road.

The commission has ruled: “No part of the parade may cross the peace line at the Workman Avenue security gates.

"The parade in its entirety is prohibited from processing along that part of the route where it joins the Springfield Road at its junction with Workman Avenue.”

Instead it has been redirected – as in the past – through a nearby Invest NI complex.

There must be no emblems “which could be seen as associated with any paramilitary organisation” and the only flags to be shown are:

The Union flag; the Ulster Banner; the Scottish saltire; the flag of Wales; the Orange Standard; the flag of the 36th Ulster Division; and the flag of the 14th Royal Irish Rifles (YCV) relating to World War One – the latter two of which must be furled for part of the route.

• PARADE TWO:

The second parade is in the Ormeau Road area on Sunday and is designed as a WWI commemoration, organised by Ballynafeigh LOL 10.

It begins at Ballynafeigh Orange Hall in the upper Ormeau area, then goes down to the loyalist Donegall Pass neighbourhood to St Mary Magdalene Church of Ireland – which would take it through the nationalist-dominated lower Ormeau Road.

There are 100 participants notified on the 11/1, and just one band.

The commission says this: “There are sensitivities about parades in the Ormeau Road area. The Commission recognises that there continues to be a strain on community relations…

"The Commission has cause to believe that should the parade process the entirety of its notified route, there will be an adverse effect on community relations and a potential for public disorder.”

As such, it made this ruling: “On its outward route, the parade is prohibited from crossing Ormeau Bridge at its junction with Annadale Embankment, or from entering that section of Ormeau Road between the junction of Ormeau Bridge and Annadale Embankment and the junction of Ormeau Road and Havelock Bridge.”