Band parade is restricted to 10 minutes due to fears of disorder

RESIDENTS in a border village have failed to block a planned loyalist march to mark the Twelfth despite raising concerns that the event would lead to the spread of coronavirus.

As July 12 falls on a Sunday this year, Loughkillygreen Accordion Band from Co Fermanagh plans to march on Monday.

The band’s application to the Parades Commission said that one band and 25 participants would be involved in the parade in Newtownbutler.

But the commission has placed conditions on the organiser and participants, including cutting its planned 50-minute demonstration at 11am to just 10 minutes and sending it along a different route.

In its submission, the organiser pointed out that “the band comes from Newtownbutler, its members live and work in the village” and it is “a family band with half its membership being children under the age of 18”.

He added that the proposed route was chosen after consideration of other parades in the area, including tractor runs and fleadhs, and due to the fact that residents are known band supporters who “can stay home and enjoy the band from their doorstep this year”.

He confirmed that he had engaged with the Newtownbutler Area Residents’ Association and “made an offer to cut our proposed route in half ”.

The organiser said this offer “was made in good faith by the band, and was sadly rejected with no agreeable alternative suggestions being put forward”.

In its response, the commission said it had received “substantial representation” that the proposed 50-minute parade would be unwelcome in the village during the pandemic.

Residents had complained that the gathering in the village was “not necessary and will raise the risk of Covid spread”.

They also accused the organisers of “showing no regard or respect to front line workers or families who lost loved ones”, adding that the parade posed “a threat and risk to the residents of the village”.

Other objections described holding the parade as “pure madness with Covid-19” and “reckless”.

Newtownbutler Area Residents’ Association had submitted a notification for a protest against the planned parade involving 100 participants.

The Parades Commission said that in its view this parade “may potentially destabilise the wider parading understanding in Newtownbutler and create new community tensions”.

It added: “The commission has considered that the potential impact on community life of this parade taking place during the pandemic, with a related protest, will be adverse, with parade participants, protesters and police gathering in a small village.

“The backdrop of the pandemic heightens significantly this potential for disruption.

“The commission has had regard to its statutory rules in its considerations of the parade’s potential for public disorder and the potential impacts upon community relations and community life. The commission has considered all relevant human rights issues.”

Around 250 loyalist bands have now lodged notifications to the watchdog of their intention to parade between July 11 and July 13. All involve a single band with a maximum of 30 participants, in line with Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. The commission has witnessed a flurry of notifications after the Executive allowed up to 30 people to gather outside last week.

❝ Villagers complained that the gathering wasn’t necessary and was pure madness with Covid-19