Northern Ireland’s marching season passes quietly – ISN
August 16th, 2004
DERRY – The third major day of Northern Ireland’s marching season passed off without major incidents, marking a relatively trouble-free summer during what is usually a confrontational and edgy time for the province. On Saturday, over 15’000 members of the radical Apprentice Boys association – part of the Protestant “Loyalist” or “Unionist” camp, as opposed to the predominantly Catholic “Nationalist” or “Republican” faction – marched through Northern Ireland’s second city of Derry.
The bowler-hatted and orange-sashed bands marched through the city’s predominantly Loyalist Waterside before crossing the Foyle River to pass through the mainly Nationalist Cityside, where over 60 per cent of the city’s population lives. The route passes close by the Bogside area, traditionally the city’s Nationalist stronghold, before turning back to cross the Foyle River via the main Loyalist enclave on the Cityside, known as The Fountain.
A large police presence and the distraction of an ongoing youth festival in the Bogside area contributed to the incident-free march, which in previous years was marked by violent clashes in the center Diamond area, as the march passed close by the Bogside. The march commemorates the 1689 breaking of the Siege of Derry, when the Irish Catholic armies of ousted English King James II were thwarted in their attempt to take the city from its besieged Protestant Anglo-Scottish settlers, from whom many of the present-day marchers are descended. The annual marching season remains politically significant, as it can raise inter-communal tension within Northern Ireland. As a consequence, the level of party political activity tends to decline over the summer, as frictions arising from the marching season could have a negative effect on Northern Ireland’s stop-and-start peace process.
Meanwhile, an earlier morning march in Belfast also passed without incident. There were fears that violence could erupt, given the clashes between Nationalists and the police that marked the marches on 12 July. The route taken traditionally passes through the Nationalist Ardoyne area of the city. However, this year the Northern Ireland Parades Commission ruled that the march could not pass along the preferred route. Disappointed Loyalist marchers were forced to take a bus through the contested area before resuming their march at a less controversial location.
Every summer, the Parades Commission must assess the merits of contested march routes. Along with the 5 July Portadown-Garvaghy Road march, the march through the Ardoyne area is particularly contentious, as Nationalist residents of these areas object to what they see as a public display of sectarianism passing through their streets. The weekend’s only significant confrontation occurred in the County Derry town of Maghera, on the morning of the main Derry march. Nationalists overturned a bread van, setting it alight for use as a barricade along the local Apprentice Boys marching route. A potentially volatile situation was defused when police persuaded the marchers to turn back. The marchers’ day was not completely ruined, however, as they managed to join fellow marchers in the day’s main march in Derry.
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