Late parade ruling prevents trouble on Twelfth

The Twelfth passed off relatively peacefully across the North this year, although incidents of sectarian abuse were reported as hundreds of anti-Catholic parades took place to mark the Battle of the Boyne, a 17th century Protestant battle victory.

The Orange Order parade through a predominately nationalist area of north Belfast passed off without incident, despite fears that there could be trouble on its return leg if an attempt was made to force it through against the will of the Greater Ardoyne community.

The Orange Order had applied to walk past Ardoyne shopfronts on the return leg of their parade on July 12, a clear attempt to reignite tensions over a parade which has been one of the most violent in recent decades.

However, in a late ruling, the Parades Commission turned that application down and ruled that it must stop before reaching the flashpoint.

In Derry, nationalists again expressed frustration at the shutdown of the centre of the overwhelmingly nationalist city to facilitate anti-Catholic parades.

Saoradh held a white-line picket against sectarian marches on Shipquay Street as members of the Orange Order and bandsmen paraded through the city.

“Any locals trying to enter the city centre wearing anything relating to the GAA or nationalist soccer teams are physically stopped from entering, with the excuse of preventing a breach of the peace,” Saoradh said in a statement.

“Yet loyalists can enter the city with whatever loyalist garb festooned upon them and not a word is said. Likewise those loyalists who wear emblems supporting Soldier F, who murdered innocent civilians in Derry on Bloody Sunday, are allowed to walk freely.”

The worst violence of the day took place in Belfast as leading loyalists linked to the UDA engaged in a drunken city centre brawl.

‘GET YOUR BITS OUT’ PROTEST

But most media attention was won by a young nationalist woman, posing as a member of the Orange Order, who flashed a nipple at cameramen in a march on the Lisburn Road to the south of Belfast.

The PSNI have said they are hunting the brave young woman over her individual protest, which they described as ‘indecent exposure’.

Images on social media showed the woman, Clodagh Byrne (pictured), marching alongside the parade wearing a mock traditional Orange sash and bowler hat over lingerie-style clothing, while incongruously carrying a Celtic-patterned bodhran drum.

“A suspect has been identified and enquiries are ongoing to locate her,” the PSNI said.

In a response released on Saturday, the ‘Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland’ (GOLI) described the influencer as “an attention seeking TikToker who has previous form for this type of activity”.

It said she is “in no way associated with the Orange Institution or the band pictured”.

Urgent Appeal