d the Orange band played on
By Peadar Whelan
Nothing could have been more poignant on the Lower Ormeau Road on
Monday 13 July than the sight of intransigent Orange marchers
striding past the black flags and banners of the Lower Ormeau
residents that declared the Ballynafeigh Orange march a `Parade
of Shame'.
It certainly was a parade of shame, exposing the contempt that
Orangemen have always had for nationalists.
This time their contempt was all the more stark, coming as it did
against the backdrop of the Ballymoney murders.
Since last Monday 6 July when the Parades Commission announced
its decision to allow Ballynafeigh Orangemen through the Lower
Ormeau tension and fear swept through the area.
In past years residents had been beaten on their own streets and
curfewed in their homes as the British government forced the
parade through.
On Friday 10 July when the High Court rejected a judicial review
taken by the residents the stage seemed set for conflict.
Then on Sunday morning as the devastating news filtered down from
Ballymoney the RUC and British army moved in and blocked the
Ormeau Road at the Ormeau and Havelock bridges, sealing the area
off.
Landrovers blocked the top of every street in the area from 4pm
while all the streets on the other side of the road were blocked.
With feelings running high Gerry Adams and LOCC spokespersons
Gerard Rice and John Gormley negotiated with the RUC and the NIO
and within an hour the RUC pulled away from the immediate area
although they kept a presence at both bridges throughout the
night.
It was the efforts of nationalists and the LOCC in particular
that ensured the events of Sunday didn't turn into a pitched
battle on Monday.
What secured the RUC pullout on Sunday was the guarantee given by
the LOCC that as a mark of respect for the Quinn brothers any
objection to the Ballynafeigh parade would be expressed in a
silent, mournful vigil.
d how did Ballynafeigh reciprocate?
The Orangemen observed the restriction that they not play music
between the bridges, but their last tune before Ormeau Bridge was
No Surrender while their first after Havelock Bridge was the
Sash. ``What has changed?'' asked Gerard Rice.
In between the bridges the Lower Ormeau community stood silently.
Their silence was an indictment of an institution whose time has
come.
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