Most contentious parade of Northern Ireland’s marching season descends into violence after police prevent loyalists advancing on nationalist Ardoyne area

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old



Trouble has flared at a police barrier in Belfast preventing the most contentious parade of Northern Ireland’s marching season, as members of the Orange Order returned from commemorations of the Battle of the Boyne.

The disturbances broke out at a volatile community flashpoint in the north of the city as police prevented loyalists marching from the unionist Woodvale area toward the nationalist Ardoyne.



Riot squad officers from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) bore the brunt of loyalist anger when they blocked access to the contested stretch of the Crumlin Road.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest A police officer is dragged away after being struck by an object thrown by Loyalist protesters at the Ardoyne Roundabout in Belfast Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA

Within minutes of the parade reaching the police lines, empty bottles, bricks and metal bolts rained down on police. At one point a number of loyalists broke through police lines and started dancing on the bonnets of PSNI armoured Land Rovers.

Eyewitness: Belfast Read more





On the other side of the police lines, a serious incident occurred when a teenager was reportedly struck by a car as republicans gathered at a row of shops on the edge of the Ardoyne.

Police officers tipped the maroon-coloured vehicle off the young woman and called for emergency medical assistance.

Police said the driver of the vehicle had been arrested. The injured girl is understood to be about 16 years old. Stephen Martin, PSNI assistant chief constable, said: “I would appeal for calm and ask that space be given to the medics attending the scene. An investigation into the circumstances is now under way.”







Earlier, thousands of Orangemen and their supporters marched across Northern Ireland, with the most controversial parade in north Belfast passing off peacefully on Monday morning.

One loyalist band did breach a ruling from the Parades Commission – the body that adjudicates on contentious marches in the region – that no music be played outside a Catholic church in central Belfast, which Prince Charles visited during his tour of Ireland.

The Finaghy True Blues loyalist marching band played the hymn How Great Thou Art even though all bands were ordered to parade past St Patrick’s church in Donegall Street to the beat of a single drum.

In north Belfast, heavily armoured police officers held back two republican demonstrations against Orange Order members and two loyalist bands outside the Ardoyne shops.

One of the protest groups, the Greater Ardoyne Residents’ Coalition, sounded klaxons and booed as loyalists marched past along the Crumlin Road. The return parade after the main Orange demonstration in the city is banned from going back via the same route.

Northern Ireland’s chief constable said violence was not inevitable as the Ulster loyalist marching season reaches its climax. George Hamilton turned up at the most dangerous flashpoint – the shops at Aydoyne where an Orange Order parade is banned from returning past on Monday evening.

Appealing for peace at this sectarian interface, Hamilton said: “Violence is not inevitable but what is inevitable is if people break the law then it’s our responsibility to gather evidence and bring people to court. We don’t want to bring negative consequences for young people by taking them before the courts with them getting criminal convictions and possibly jail sentences.“

Speaking from the scene, the Sinn Féin minister Gerry Kelly, a former IRA member and Old Bailey bomber, said he believed there could be a long-term solution to the controversies over parades and the flying of flags in the province.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly speaks the media after a number of police officers have been injured after loyalists rioted in Belfast when a contentious Orange Order parade was halted. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA

Kelly said: “Last night was the quietest I have seen for a very long time. It wasn’t helped by the burning of effigies – what I have to say are hate-filled bonfires.

“Today will be a peaceful protest and I hope and believe we can go about our business peacefully. And I hope that the atmosphere perhaps will help us when we get back into talks. We have, thousands and thousands of times before, but dialogue is the way to resolution.”

The Sinn Féin assembly member for North Belfast said all-party talks late last year could lead to compromises over the issues of parades and flags.

About 3,000 police officers backed by water cannon and a helicopter are on duty with riot-squad units being deployed at sectarian flashpoints, mainly in Belfast.

To mark the 325th anniversary of King William of Orange’s victory at the Battle of the Boyne, Northern Ireland’s Stormont parliament is to be illuminated on Monday night with orange lights.