1,000 OFFICERS SEAL OFF MARCHES AND PROTESTS
RIOT FEARS SPARK HUGE SECURITY OPERATION:
Police officers outnumbered demonstrators in Glasgow yesterday as separate Republican processions were met by Loyalist counter-demonstrations.
Security was ramped up after ugly scenes in Glasgow’s Govan on August 30 when riot police, mounted officers, a helicopter and dog units were called in to deal with a clash between Republicans and Loyalists.
Up to 1,000 officers were on the streets of Glasgow yesterday and a helicopter hovered overhead for most of the day. The cost of policing the events was not revealed but is believed to be upwards of £40,000.
At one point, officers raced down St Vincent Street when hooligans dressed in black and wearing balaclavas attempted to disrupt one of the processions, organised by Friends of IRPWA (The Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association).
The first parade of 100 people, organised by Cairde na hEireann, left the city’s Calton area at 2pm, flanked
by more than 200 police officers, some with body armour and helmets.
A police helicopter followed the march, which took more than an hour to reach the La Pasionaria statue in Clyde Street on the Broomielaw.
A Loyalist counter-demonstration nearby was contained by police to prevent the two groups clashing.
The groups hurled insults and offensive gestures at each other but the procession passed off peacefully.
Both Republicans and Loyalists dispersed before a second procession by a separate Republican group set off from Blythswood Square around 4pm. Police held up the second parade, due to begin at 3pm, to prevent the groups meeting.
Flares were set off on George V Bridge as Friends of IRPWA made their way along Clydeside. The group reached Barrowlands Park around 5.30pm.
One of the organisers said: “I’d like to thank Glasgow City Council for not bowing down to mob rule and allowing today to go ahead.”
The council came under fire for allowing the processions after a march organised by the James Connolly Republican Flute Band last month was disrupted by Loyalists.
Missiles were thrown, opposing groups clashed and flares were lit in scenes described by Nicola Sturgeon as “utterly unacceptable”.
On Thursday she said the Scottish Government was considering changing the law to tackle the “scourge” of sectarianism.
Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf said on Friday he was “open-minded” about increasing council powers to restrict marches. But he said a blanket ban on Loyalist and Republican parades would be impossible as the European Convention on Human Rights “simply wouldn’t allow it”.
After the riot last month, former First Minister Jack McConnell called for a new national strategy to tackle religious bigotry. He said work under his government was abandoned by the SNP when it was elected in 2007, which he described as “political vandalism”.
It is estimated today’s processions could have cost almost £14,000 each to police. With a police helicopter costing about £2,000 an hour, the total cost of policing yesterday’s events could be as much as £40,000.
Police said one man was arrested yesterday for carrying an offensive weapon.