Controversial St. Patrick’s Day loyalist parade given green light | Latest Newry News, Newry Sport and Newry Business for Newry City

Controversial St. Patrick’s Day loyalist parade given green light

Murphy said the decision to let the parade go ahead had the possibility to damage community relations

Sinn Fein has reacted angrily to the Parades Commission determination today which gave a contentious loyalist parade the go-ahead for St. Patrick’s Day in Armagh City. Newry and Armagh Sinn Féin MP Conor Murphy said the Parades Commission and the PSNI have created the scenario for a new contentious loyalist march, with the possibility of damaging the good community relations that exist in Armagh. Murphy was speaking after the Parades Commission failed to change their decision to allow 40 loyalist bands to march through Armagh City on the evening of St Patrick’s Day.

Speaking to Newry Times Conor Murphy stated, “Despite the clear evidence that the community and businesses in Armagh do not want this march to go ahead, the Parades Commission has ignored any concerns and pushed ahead with their original disastrous decision. I have heard already of groups pulling out of the St Patrick’s parade earlier in the day due to this march being allowed. The organisers of this contentious march have to date provided four different reasons for this parade and none of them stack up.”

Murphy continued, “This should have been a no-brainer for the Parades Commission but they somehow failed the test and the PSNI’s crazy assertion that there was no local concern over the march defies belief. This is a bad decision for the community in Armagh, for businesses, for people trying to enjoy St Patrick’s Day and for community relations. The Parades Commission and the PSNI, by acquiescing and contributing to this decision, have created the scenario for a new contentious loyalist march with the possibility of damaging the good community relations that exist in Armagh.”

“The organisers, in the interest of those good community relations, should abandon their plans,” Murphy added.

Related Articles:
Tensions mount over loyalist St. Patrick’s Day parade in Armagh

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Posted by on Mar 13 2012. Filed under Community, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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