Parades Commission must take account of broader public opinion

5.42.00pm GMT Tue 17th Jan 2006

The Alliance Party has called on Government to ensure that broad public opinion is taken into account while monitoring the performance of the new Parades Commission. The call comes after Party Leader David Ford led a delegation to meet Minister Shaun Woodward to discuss the new set up for mediating and arbitrating on parades.

Cllr Ian James Parsley, who was part of the delegation and previous worked with the Commission, stated: "The Government's analysis of the parading situation, and the past Commission's role within it, is entirely accurate. This bodes well. However, identifying the problem is always easier than identifying the solution.

"We asked the Minister to consider three specific points while monitoring the performance of the new Commission and the new parading arrangements. First, most people in Northern Ireland have no direct interest in parades at all, but the July exodus is a telling reality and this inconvenience must be taken into account -- this is not some minority middle-class concern, but a concern shared right across the community. Second, there must be a blanket ban on divisive symbols being displayed during parades, irrelevant of where they take place. Thirdly, Commission determinations still have the effect of deciding whether a given route, even a specific stretch of road, is 'orange' or 'green' -- even in the medium term this is no solution. The idea that an organization should determine whether a stretch of gravel or tarmac is 'Protestant' or 'Catholic' is plainly nonsense in a stable democracy.

"There is a significant awareness programme still outstanding. We need to ensure that others engaging in parades -- for example to celebrate sporting triumphs or to mark remembrance days -- are able to do so without hindrance.

"We welcome the Minister's determination to deal with this issue effectively and look forward to keeping up the pressure to ensure a parading season which promotes the positive, not the negative."

ENDS