Apprentice Boys' parade passes off peacefully

The first parade of the Loyalist marching season has passed off peacefully. About 5,000 members of the Apprentice Boys of Derry took part in the parade in Belfast this lunchtime. The parade was part of the Apprentice Boys' annual Easter Monday parades, which are the first events of the loyalist marching season.

In south Belfast, a small group of Apprentice Boys was prevented from parading along the mainly nationalist Lower Ormeau Road to the city centre. About 20 members of the Apprentice Boys and a band marched up to the Ormeau Bridge in Belfast, where they handed a letter of protest to the RUC over the Parades Commission ruling barring them from marching along the Ormeau Road. The Apprentice Boys also released details of attempts they say they made to enter direct talks with the residents. The Parades Commission ruled last week that part of the Belfast march should be re-routed away from the lower Ormeau Road. The road was blocked by police barricades to enforce the ruling, but the security force presence was scaled down, compared to previous years.

The Apprentice Boys spokesman, Tommy Cheevers, said this morning that they were saddened that a "peaceful and orderly expression of culture" had again been obstructed. For the first time, the Apprentice Boys said they had made attempts to enter direct dialogue with the residents of the Lower Ormeau Road. Tommy Cheevers said they had written to the residents telling them that the Apprentice Boys were prepared to enter into direct dialogue and ask the residents "what exactly their concerns are". He said they would address those concerns.

His comments were later disputed by Gerard Rice, a spokesman for the residents. Mr Rice said the notion that the Apprentice Boys made any attempt to contact the residents was "absolute nonsense". He said the residents had been writing to the Apprentice Boys for seven years. Nationalist residents of the area called off a planned counter-demonstration. This morning, Gerard Rice, said only face-to-face dialogue would bring a long-term solution to the differences over marches.

With the marching season now underway, attention will now be focused on Portadown where the protest at Drumcree is still continuing. Orangemen there say they are determined to parade along the Garvaghy Road, but nationalists are concerned at what they describe as "the atmosphere of intimidation" in the town. It is against this background that the pro-Good Friday Agreement parties will meet again at Hillsborough on Tuesday week, to resume discussions on the way forward.