‘We all made the effort to celebrate safely’
IT was a Twelfth like no other. That was the view of residents in an east Belfast housing estate who were among thousands marking Northern Ireland’s traditional day of parading by celebrating at home.
With hundreds of parades cancelled amid the coronavirus pandemic, supporters were instead urged to safely mark the date in their front gardens.
While there was still plenty of red, white and blue on display, and the welcome waft of the burger vans and the familiar banging of the Lambeg drum were there too, notably absent were the vast crowds.
Despite the scaled down celebrations, the Braniel Loyal Flute Band brought the Twelfth to those living in the area, as residents gathered at their front doors or sat safely in their cars to watch the proceedings.
The previous day band members had played ‘Happy Birthday’ to a tearful Ina Mcneill as they paraded through the Cregagh Estate to mark her 95th birthday.
Many yesterday afternoon said they would normally have been among the huge crowds celebrating July 12 in Belfast city centre.
Despite this not being possible in 2020 they were glad to see traditional parades still taking place albeit on a much smaller scale.
Flute band member James Bate (28) was marking his 11-month-old daughter Lily-pearl Kemp’s first Twelfth.
“It’s been good to bring the Twelfth to our neighbours and everyone is playing by the quarantine rules and not following the bands so the message has got through.
“But I hope this year is just a one-off and we can return to normality next year,” James said.
Watching events from the safety of her friend Pat Simpson’s garden was Aileen Shaltz (69) and Pat’s
daughter-in-law Joanne Large.
“It’s weird but much more relaxed and less frantic than normal.
“There’s still a good atmosphere and everybody has made the effort to come out and celebrate in a safe and peaceful way,” said Aileen.
Joanne (35) said: “There has been great community spirit and it’s been good to see something happening to mark the day rather than nothing at all, so I’ve enjoyed it.”
Sporting Union Jack T-shirts and others emblazoned with the words ‘The Twelfth of July 2020: the one that got cancelled’ were Carol Gray (46), her sister Alison Curry and their daughters Lauren and Caitlin.
“It doesn’t feel quite the same,” said Carol. “I’ve always loved the Twelfth and even though it’s great to have the band here, I hope we don’t have another one like this.”
Mark Thompson (59) was in the company of his family including 13-week-old grandson Isaac Montgomery.
“It’s different to any other Twelfth but it’s good to see so many people out enjoying themselves and keeping their distance while also remembering what the day is all about,” Mark said.
“Personally I think the Orange Order could have put on a parade at a safe distance but this is as good as we can get.
“All of the neighbourhoods in Belfast have come together but what’s missing this year is the camaraderie of standing to watch all the bands with friends and pageantry that goes with it.”
Carole Ross (62) was joined by family members in her Union flagclad gazebo to listen to the music.
“It doesn’t feel the Twelfth as there is only one band so the same atmosphere isn’t there,” she said. “I hope we can all be back in Shaftesbury Square in 2021.”