The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.59/No.32           September 4, 1995 
 
 
Rightists Cancel Belfast Marches As Opponents Of British Rule Press Fight  

BY TONY HUNT AND ANN CROWTHER
BELFAST, Northern Ireland - In the run-up to the anniversary of the cease-fire declared by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in Northern Ireland on August 31 of last year, a rightist, pro-British organization has called off two provocative marches through a Catholic neighborhood here.

The republican newspaper An Phoblacht stated, "The decision by the Royal Black Institution to call off two sectarian parades on the Ormeau [Road is] a victory for those residents." The loyalist marches had been scheduled for the last two weekends in August.

The week before, on August 12, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) had attacked demonstrators protesting the routing of loyalist parades through the predominantly Catholic neighborhoods of Lower Ormeau in Belfast and the Bogside in the city of Derry. The London daily Independent reported, "Television pictures of RUC officers batoning Catholic protesters represented a major public relations disaster for the force."

At an August 13 rally, called to demand "All-party talks now" on the future of Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams saluted the resistance of the people against the "bully boy" attitude of the rightists and the cops. He called for the RUC to be disbanded.

Adams noted, "The figures given by the RUC for marches in 1993 was 2,662. Of these 2,411 were Orange [loyalist] demonstrations." Republicans, he said, "have a tolerance for Orange parades, but we object to them where their behavior is unwelcome."

Three loyalist marching organizations exist in the north of Ireland - the Orange Order, the Royal Black Preceptory (or Institution), and the Apprentice Boys.

The RUC is unwelcome among those who live on the Ormeau Road. Residents say this community of 2,500 has witnessed more killings by the colonial police force since 1969 than any other Catholic community.

Gains since cease-fire
In interviews, local residents noted the gains made since last year's cease-fire. Mary Crawford explained that as the tension eased and the residents' confidence grew, their practice of putting iron bars across front doors at night ceased. However, she added, "The hooks to hold the bars remain."

Michael Goodwin of the Lower Ormeau Concerned Citizens (LOCC) explained that agreement to reroute loyalist marches had been gained since the cease-fire.

The RUC broke this agreement on July 12 when 150 RUC jeeps and hundreds of officers in combat gear laid siege to the community. That day, the Orange Order staged its annual marches in towns across Northern Ireland to celebrate the loyalist anniversary of the 1688 Battle of the Boyne.

On the other hand, Kathleen, a resident of Ormeau Road who is married to a Protestant, commented, "My husband, children, and I go away for July 12 every year. Everyone in the community could do the same; then there would be no trouble."

The majority of this community have a different view. On August 12 they mobilized against the Apprentice Boys' provocative march through their neighborhood. As part of a very successful community festival, an all-night jig was organized on the grass below the Ormeau bridge.

At 5:15 a.m., nine RUC jeeps blocked the bridge. Meanwhile, 250 demonstrators from the community sat in front of the troops in the road, determined to prevent the loyalist parade from passing.

John, who lives next to the Orange lodge across the bridge, came down to support the August 12 protest. "They should disband the RUC - they work for the Brits," he said.

Michael, another resident, said, "We can solve this by common sense and discussion, but not while the Brits back the loyalists."

Thirty RUC jeeps appeared from a side road around 8:15 and surrounded the protest. Within minutes police in riot gear were attacking the demonstrators with batons, clearing the road for 20 Apprentice Boys from over the bridge. As the protesters retreated, picking up the injured, the RUC charged.

The demonstrators retreated further and were met on turning the corner by a cordon of jeeps, two rows of riot police, and a round of five plastic bullets. One demonstrator was hit in the face, causing serious injury. Bernard O'Neill, injured by an RUC baton, said, "The cease- fires are abused and used by the loyalists and the British government. I have lived with this since I was five years old. They are not marching through here because it's a traditional route; they come to show they can trample Catholics. We have to react."

`True nature of RUC has been exposed'
Pat O'Malley, a Democratic councilor from Cleveland, Ohio, was also present. "I saw a guy shot with a plastic bullet from only 10 feet. He was turning away; the cops knew they weren't in danger. It's like the Ku Klux Klan being allowed through a Black district," he stated.

After the RUC assault, John Gormley of the LOCC addressed a protest rally on the Ormeau bridge that afternoon. "The true nature of the RUC has been exposed," he declared. "Plastic bullets were used illegally in violation of the cease-fires."

Gormley distinguished between the Protestant community across the bridge and the rightists. Only "a very small section" of that community, he noted, took part in the loyalist action.

While the Apprentice Boys passed, 30 people demonstrated on the Protestant side of the bridge demanding no rerouting of the marches. During the RUC attack they screamed anti- Catholic obscenities.

In an August 13 column in the Sunday World, Chris McGimpsey, a Unionist councilor in Belfast, referred to the people of the Lower Ormeau as "dogs." Sinn Fein councilor Alex Maskey immediately issued a statement condemning "the use of this Fascist-style language."

The same day as the assault in Lower Ormeau, the RUC attacked a demonstration of 300 in Derry. "This was a peaceful protest and the RUC showed what real animals they are," said Shane, 18, one of several youth involved in the action. Demonstrators were forcibly removed from a section of the Derry city wall overlooking the Bogside area so the Apprentice Boys could march past the predominantly Catholic working-class area.

Other participants in the protest, who had occupied the wall since the previous day, talked during the night of their involvement 26 years earlier in efforts to reroute what they called "triumphalist" parades by rightist forces. "They keep trying to walk all over us," said one resident. Another recalled his involvement in the "Battle of the Bogside" in 1969 when residents fought to repel armed attacks by the RUC and loyalist thugs.

Donacha MacNelis of the Bogside residents group and Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness, who led the protest, condemned the refusal of the loyalists and the RUC "to discuss with the people of the Bogside" the parade route. As police moved in, McGuinness urged protesters to maintain the calm and discipline they had shown all night, which they did. He described the outcome of the protest as "a moral victory over the RUC and the Orange Order."

In 1969, said MacNelis, "the people of the Bogside got off their knees. The people of the Bogside are still off their knees. There's no going back."

A few days earlier, on August 9, a debate featuring nationalist and loyalist speakers from different communities was held at Conway Mill on the Catholic Falls Road here. A number of Protestants were in the overflow audience of 600. Mary from West Belfast described it as "a frank debate. Not everyone liked what was said, but we talked. It's the Brits who are dragging their feet. They're the ones who have to move."

At the August 13 rally, Sinn Fein leader Adams captured the mood of combativity when he said to the thousands in the crowd, "We have created a culture of resistance, which has become a culture of change....We are going to have freedom justice and peace in our country.

"So let no one tell you that we won't have Irish unity - we will. Let no one tell you that all our political prisoners will not be released - they will. Let no one tell you that we will not break the British connection, because we will."

Tony Hunt is a member of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union in Manchester, England. Martin Hill, a member of the Transport and General Workers Union in London, contributed to this article.

 
 
 
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