Close parades loophole quickly, Alliance tells Minister

12.00.00am GMT Mon 14th Feb 2005

An Alliance party delegation this afternoon met with Security Minister, Ian Pearson, to discuss proposed legislation regarding the supporters and followers of parades.

Speaking after the meeting, Alliance Party Justice Spokesperson, Stephen Farry, said:

"The events of last summer exposed major loopholes in the law on parades, with respect to followers and protestors. It is obvious that people on either side of disputes of contentious parades will try to exploit the current law if it goes unchanged.

"Alliance believes that it is important that the Government moves urgently to close the loophole. The police do not wish to be left in the invidious position of having to improvise public order solutions on the ground for circumstances not covered by Parades Commission determinations.

"I would hope that certain unionist politicians will avoid the temptation to play politics and stoke up tensions over what should be regarded as no more than a tidying up exercise of existing legislation."