{"id":655283,"date":"2026-10-15T07:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/655283\/"},"modified":"2026-10-15T07:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T07:26:11","slug":"wave-of-fear-in-nationalist-community-in-belfast-at-proposed-apprentice-boys-parade-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/655283\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wave of fear\u2019 in nationalist community in Belfast at proposed Apprentice Boys parade \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

An application for an Apprentice Boys parade through a nationalist area of south Belfast<\/a> has sent a \u201cwave of fear\u201d through the community, according to a parades\u2019 campaigner.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of residents from the Lower Ormeau area have contacted Gerard Rice about the proposed loyalist march along a route that was a parading flashpoint and site of a sectarian massacre during the 1990s.<\/p>\n

The Parades Commission<\/a> is currently considering the application by Belfast Walker Club for a procession on Saturday November 7th.<\/p>\n

This is the first proposal at a contentious parading site since the commission ruled that a controversial march could go down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown last month.<\/p>\n

Protestant loyal order parades have been prevented from proceeding over the Ormeau Bridge into the nationalist area since 1999.<\/p>\n

The latest application would take in the scene past Sean Graham\u2019s bookmakers where five Catholics were murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1992.<\/p>\n

Rice has represented the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community, a residents\u2019 advocacy group, since violent clashes erupted over parading disputes 30 years ago.<\/p>\n

There has been relative peace since then, he said.<\/p>\n

The group has lodged a \u201cfull submission\u201d to the Parades Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis community remains resolutely opposed to parades coming down through the area,\u201d Rice told The Irish Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the overwhelming opinion, from both sides of the community, is that no one wants to go back.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though the application was made last week, people only found out about it yesterday. It was like a wave of fear going through this community.<\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of people have contacted me about concerns and apprehension they have around the potential for what happened in Drumcree happening here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have done our best to reassure people that it will not happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Previous applications have been made by the Apprentice Boys to walk to the route as part of annual Remembrance weekend ceremonies.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018We\u2019re not going back, are we?\u2019: Courts may be the only way to end Drumcree standoffOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Last year\u2019s bid by the Belfast Walker Club was banned from the Lower Ormeau area \u2013 the march still went ahead through non-contentious areas \u2013 after the commission ruled there were continuing \u201csensitivities\u201d.<\/p>\n

The fresh proposal is for 80 members to parade from Ballynafeigh Orange Hall before passing through the Ormeau Road, across Ormeau Bridge and onwards to Donegall Pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not a new application or response to Drumcree,\u201d added Rice.<\/p>\n

He pointed out that residents \u201cnever had to go to the Parades Commission about this parade \u2013 until now\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe commission has always issued a determination,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always been the Apprentice Boys come down the road, get on a bus, and go to Donegall Pass and then go on about their parade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the way it\u2019s been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statements made by Orange Order<\/a> representatives earlier this week \u2013 loyalist activist Jamie Bryson<\/a> claimed \u201ctraditional routes\u201d would be marched once again \u2013 have \u201cheightened concerns\u201d among residents, Rice added.<\/p>\n

On Monday evening, an unnotified parade took place on Belfast\u2019s Shankill Road in what was the first organised protest by loyalists since the Orange Order\u2019s parade along the Garvaghy Road was banned by Northern Secretary Chris Bryant.<\/p>\n

Rice said he hoped that the Parades Commission \u201cwould see sense\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere hasn\u2019t been a threat of a parade on the Lower Ormeau in 26 years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWork has been quietly going on across the communities over that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe groundswell of opinion is that young people are not for going back. What we are trying to emphasis to people is \u2018go about your business and behave normally\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Lower Ormeau, marching and the hurt caused by it is never far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis parade shouldn\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An application for an Apprentice Boys parade through a nationalist area of south Belfast has sent a \u201cwave…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4501,73902,61,60,272536,43,18254,171620],"class_list":["post-655283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-belfast","tag-chris-bryant","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jamie-bryson","tag-news","tag-orange-order","tag-parades-commission"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}