ger and determination in Derry
By Martha McClelland
Derry nationalists were in a deeply angry mood after Drumcree 3.
They'd seen it all before and Mo Mowlam's betrayal was only
Britain's latest `theme with variations'. Derry's determination
to face up to the prospect of 20,000 Orangemen arriving on
Saturday meant that by Thursday night, nationalists of all ages
were organised to support those in the Ormeau Road in a
disciplined and strategic manner on the streets.
The city centre became a ghost town as Friday approached. When
the Orange Order announced that it would not march in Derry and
three other flashpoints, the community heaved a collective sigh
of relief. People who'd spent their week at meetings and planned
to stay up all night meeting the Orange challenge relaxed.
Very few were at The Diamond on Saturday morning for the Orange
march. The Orange organisers announced that only the local Orange
Lodge from the Fountain was to march from the Cityside, via
London Street across to the Waterside. This met with no objection
from the Bogside Residents Group, in view of their guiding
principles published earlier that week.
Instead, local Orange supporters, angry with their leadership's
re-routing, brought along eight bands and extra people, and
blocked the designated route. Eventually RUC and British Army
personnel and vehicles, keeping them from the Diamond, rolled
back to create a gap through which the Orange marchers and the
eight bands poured. Six nationalists were bludgeoned off the
street that morning as they lay down in front of the armoured
cars and then tried to physically hold them back with bare hands.
The RUC used boots, batons and fists to clear the road. One man,
disabled from his gunshot wounds on Bloody Sunday, was batoned to
the ground. The Orangemen marched out across the Bridge as usual
with their bands that morning.
Donncha MacNiallais described this as ``an act of bad faith'' by
the Orange Order, asserting that ``the scenes at the Doiamond
could and should have been avoided.'' In the afternoon, hundreds
of angry, wary but disciplined nationalists appeared in The
Diamond around 4pm, to observe and monitor the Orange marchers'
behaviour if and when they tried to march again in the Diamond,
contrary to their agreement.
They left around 7:30pm after it became clear that the Orange
marchers, apart from the Fountain Lodge, were not being allowed
across the Bridge. After the Fountain Lodge returned and
dispersed quietly, protestors took Martin McGuinness's advice and
dispersed in a disciplined manner.
Later that night, a number of very young people, later joined by
drinkers from the pubs, rioted and threw a few petrol bombs and
burnt out two cars.
Youths attack RUC in Creggan
After the RUC found 500 lbs of unprimed explosive packed in bins
in Derry's Southway area, local youths, angry at the RUC's large
scale search operation which involved the evacuation of all of
High Park, attacked them with stones. A large area from High
Park, to Termonbacca, and including Rathowen Park, Rathlin Drive
and Rathkeele Way was sealed off for some hours and the search
operation continued from sunset until the early hours of the
morning. Several young people were arrested.
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