Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Flashpoint march passes off peacefully
A PEACEFUL Orange parade past a flashpoint is a massive step forward, a community worker has said.
Ardoyne shop fronts in North Belfast had become a byword for conflict over many years on the Twelfth but a deal struck between residents saw a “relaxed” early morning demonstration replace a tightly restricted evening procession where violence threatened.
Bandsmen from the Shankill and Ballysillan banged the Lambeg drum on the arterial Crumlin Road, followed by lines of white-shirted men wearing the Order’s collarette, while only a handful of nationalist residents looked on.
Fr Gary Donegan, who has spent years working in Ardoyne, said: “Every step here, no matter how small, it is massive.
“Every step I would count as a success.
“There are always going to be issues about parading. It is unique in Ardoyne in the sense that there were people who were killed in the vicinity of where the parades take place, so there is hyper-sensitivity about that.”
Speaking about yesterday’s events across Northern Ireland, PSNI ACC Alan Todd said: “We have dealt with a number of minor incidents throughout the day and have made a small number of arrests, but these were very much in the margins of what has been widely described as the most peaceful Twelfth of July for some years and a model for years to come.”