Adams condemns rioting, calls for Orange talks
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams today condemned last night's rioting in Belfast's Ardoyne area and said the Orange Order and republican politicians should hold talks on the small number of parades which are still linked to tension in the North.
Some 21 police officers were injured in the violence which came as Orangemen completed their July 12 parade through the area.
In one of the worst nights of violence in recent years, there were also clashes with police in areas including Armagh, Londonderry and the village of Rasharkin, Co Antrim, as the Orange Order marked the height of its marching season.
Mr Adams said the vast majority of 2,000 to 3,000 loyal order parades held throughout each year passed off peacefully and he said talks should take place between his party and the Orange Order to resolve problems which remained at a small number of locations.
The Sinn Féin leader said: “Let’s get all of this in proportion – there were about 100 parades yesterday, there are 3,000 Orange parades annually, there are about six contentious parades and last night’s disturbances, whether in Ardoyne or in Armagh or in Rasharkin, involved a very, very small minority of people... being exploited by some of these so-called dissident groups.
“But let’s look at the big picture in terms of what it used to be like and what it’s now like.
“What happened last night is wrong. It’s reprehensible. And all of us who are leaders, and I include the Orange leadership, have a duty to look at how these disturbances occur.
“There was a very peaceful demonstration organised both on the outward and the inward legs of last night’s parade, so there is no support in Ardoyne for this parade going down this route – the only people who want to go that way are the Orange.
“And I would appeal to them in terms of these six or seven contested parades to talk, or not to go in. Why not have their Orangefest celebrations without... playing into the hands of these small groups?”
Mr Adams said Orange Order leaders should end their refusal to hold talks with elected Sinn Fein politicians.
“My biggest frustration is that thus far the Orange Order has contributed nothing to the peace process.
“The Orange Order still refuses to talk to Sinn Féin... even though Martin McGuinness is the Deputy First Minister, even though there are a number of Sinn Féin ministers, even though, unlike them, we have a mandate which we renew at every election.
“They talk about being a Christian organisation, about neighbourliness, and I don’t dissent from any of that and I don’t say any of this to undermine the good decent people who were involved in the Orange, but why on earth can’t they come forward and meet us?”
Mr Adams told the BBC that he had met Orange members in Portadown who are linked to the long-running Drumcree parades dispute, but he said the leadership of the order still refused to deal with his party.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Culture Minister Nelson McCausland said marchers spoke to residents in the Ardoyne area and community leaders in a local parades forum.
He also said the order had made strides in rebranding the July 12 parades as Orangefest as part of efforts to create a more family-friendly and inclusive atmosphere.
In a break with tradition, city centre shops opened in Belfast for a period yesterday, as normal routines were maintained while accommodating parades in the morning and early evening.
Nationalists have complained about the route taken by some marches through areas which are predominantly Catholic or, in the case of Ardoyne, past a sectarian interface.
They have criticised aspects of the Orange Order and wider loyalist element to the marching season, including the scale of some loyalist bonfires on July 11 and the presence of anti-Catholic slogans.
But Mr McCausland said the major issue was the scale and ferocity of last night’s dissident violence.
In disturbances in Derry, 11 petrol bombs were thrown and one police officer was injured.
There was also trouble in Rasharkin, Co Antrim, and Armagh city, while security forces also had to deal with hoax bomb alerts in Strabane, Co Tyrone, and in Lurgan, Co Armagh.
Meanwhile, Declan O'Loan, of the nationalist SDLP, condemned a paint and attempted petrol bomb attack on Dunloy Orange Hall in Co Antrim overnight.
Police said they were investigating the attack, which caused scorch damage to the building, and appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
Mr O’Loan said: “It has been a bad couple of days for community relations. Attacks such as this one are a clear setback for the whole community, and of course that is precisely the intention of those who carry them out.”
He added: “All the good work of 50 weeks of the year cannot continue to be set at nought again in two weeks of mindless attacks in the marching season.”
