RUC attack Waterfront picketers
Sinn Fein's Sean Hayes has criticised the RUC's handling of a protest
against the Orange Order organised by the Friends of Garvaghy Road
Committee, writes An Phoblacht's Padraig MacDabhaid.
The criticism comes after the RUC clashed with protesters, numbering
over 200 people, outside the Waterfront Hall on Monday, March 29.
MacDabhaid, who witnessed RUC intimidation and Orange provocation,
writes that a peaceful protest ended in violence after Orange Order
members taunted nationalists about Rosemary Nelson and threw stones.
The protest was organised to coincide with an Orange Order event
running for two nights at the Waterfront and billed as an opportunity
for people to learn more about the Order. Gerard Rice of the Lower
Ormeau Concerned Community, however, said that the invitation to
learn more about the Orange Order did not go down well with
nationalists while the Order continued to lay siege to the Garvaghy
Road.
Trouble began at around 7pm as nationalists, faced by RUC members in
riot gear, some of whom had Orange Order stickers on their riot
shields, were taunted about the murder of Rosemary Nelson by a mainly
middle-aged crowd going into Belfast City Council's showcase venue.
Some of the Union Jack-waving Orangemen entering the Waterfront Hall
began to throw stones at the nationalist protesters. Some nationalist
youths, angry at the taunts and stone throwing, retaliated but were
quickly brought under control by the local organisers.
At this point, members of the RUC began to attack protesters, leading
to scuffles between the RUC and nationalists. The RUC, under the
direction of Orangemen, began to point out members of the crowd and
photograph them. The protest, which remained, dignified and
surprisingly calm in the face of extreme provocation, ended with a
meeting addressed by local Sinn Féin councillor Sean Hayes and Gerard
Rice at which more protests were planned.
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