Calls for Apprentice Boys to talk
By Mick Naughton.
A united call for the loyalist Apprentice Boys to talk direct
came this week from nationalist communities across the six
counties. From Derry to Newtownbutler and Roslea in Fermanagh and
Dunloy to the Lower Ormeau Road in Antrim the message was clear,
talk with us not around us.
It is this sticking point which last year led to violent scenes
outside Dunloy as loyalists returning from the Apprentice Boys
parade in Derry city converged on the small north Antrim village.
This year has witnessed further loyalist brutality in the
Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler when the RUC struck out at
nationalist protesters, leaving six badly injured last Sunday
evening during a Royal Black Preceptory parade.
In Derry the Bogside Residents Group have given the go-ahead for
the Apprentice Boys to parade around the city's walls after the
re-routing of feeder parades in Dunloy, Bellaghy and the Lower
Ormeau. The Bogside residents said that while the forced
re-routing of marches was not the ideal solution, they were
prepared to withdraw any protests. They also agreed to drop plans
for a massive five-pronged march in Derry on Friday night. Their
committee will put its recommendations to a public meeting of
other residents on Wednesday evening.
Their position was summed up by spokesperson Donncha Mac Niallais
who stressed they had never sought to undermine the right to
march. ``Right from the very beginning, the BRG has sought to
create an environment in which Apprentice Boys parades in Derry
could pass off peacefully. Creating such an environment has, in
recent years, been made more difficult by the issue of feeder
parades in areas such as the Lower Ormeau, Bellaghy and Dunloy.''
In light of the BRG decision senior Apprentice Boys have called
on all members to show respect on Saturday.
Ignoring the demands for dialogue former loyalist life prisoner
Kenny McClinton and DUP Derry spokesperson Gregory Campbell are
scheduled to speak at an `Ulster Civil Rights' rally in the
Waterside on Thursday evening. Last year McClinton attended a
support rally with the former DUP MP Willie McCrea after the
Loyalist Volunteer Force was formed in the wake of the expulsion
of Billy Wright from the UVF.
;Meanwhile Fermanagh council chair, Patrick McCaffrey, has called
on the British government to halt this weekend's contentious
parades. His comments came as the RUC announced it had rerouted a
march in Roslea this coming Saturday evening. The Black
Institution has refused to meet leaders of the Newtownbutler Area
Residents Association while in Roslea the `Gordon and Nixon'
Memorial Lodge has also refused to talk with the Roslea Reroute
Sectarian Marches Group. They both cite the presence of Sinn Fein
residents as the basis for their refusal. This spurious reason
has been rubbished by the residents groups involved as simply
another stalling tactic aimed at not having direct talks.
The RUC have decided to allow the Royal Black Perpceptory to
parade no further than their hall on the Lisnaskea Road on the
outskirts of Roslea. In Newtownbutler the RBP plans to hold
morning and evening marches on its way to and returning from the
main Black Institution demonstrations at Maguiresbridge.
Local Sinn Fein councillor Brian McCaffrey called for direct
dialogue and said it was the only way for agreement. ``Dialogue is
the only way on this matter. Sitting down and talking is the way
to find a solution and the time for all these coat-trailing
displays of triumphalism to cease.''
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