Mass intimidation on Ormeau Road
By Roisin Cox
The Orange Order's decision to abandon its ``traditional'' gathering in
Edenderry and bring the Belfast Twelfth rally to Ormeau Park was by
anyone's reckoning an exercise in mass intimidation of residents.
The 7 July decision, made after the Parades Commission decided to ban
Ballynafeigh Orangemen from parading down the Lower Ormeau Road,
exaggerated an already tense situation and left residents on the Ormeau
facing the possibility of violence from Orangemen. The subsequent heavy
militarisation and curfew of the Ormeau community added to the tension that
already existed.
The Orange Order's move was attacked by politicians, community groups and
residents alike while residents from the Ormeau Road, Stranmillis and
Malone Roads opposed the decision.
The Parades Commission announced on 10 July that the Ormeau Park rally
could take place on assurances from the Orange Order and unionist
politicians that it would pass off peacefully. This despite the Parades
Commission's earlier acknowledgment that the demonstration would
``exacerbate a widely held sense of intimidation across the whole Catholic
community''.
Gerard Rice, spokesperson for the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community, said in
reaction to the Parades Commission decision: ``The Orange Order's
determination to bring their rally to the Ormeau Park has highlighted the
lengths to which they are prepared to go to force their sectarian parades
on nationalist communities,'' said Sinn Féin councillor Seán Hayes. ``The
Order has demolished its insistence on following traditional routes for the
sham argument it always was by switching its route at such short notice to
suit political expediency.''
Residents' spokesperson Gerard Rice reirterated this argument: ``Tradition
isn't important when it comes to pressurising and intimidating small
communities,'' he said.
Although Monday's parade did pass off with relative calm, reports indicate
that there was a mass exodus of Catholic families from the Ormeau Road as
they feared Orange supporters might lay siege to the area.
Community groups were inundated with calls from terrified families prepared
to move out of their area in the face of `Orange rule on the Ormeau Road'.
Residents were also furious that the heavy military presence on the Ormeau
Road throughout the end of last week was directed at them despite the fact
that the threat of violence came from loyalists.
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