LAST UPDATE | 12 Jul 2023

SCORES OF PARADES have taken place across Northern Ireland as Protestant loyal orders celebrate the Twelfth of July.

The main demonstrations took place at 18 venues, including Belfast as well as Bangor, Co Down, Ballymena, Co Antrim, Ballinamallard, Co Fermanagh and Magherafelt, Co Derry.

Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris attended a parade in Lurgan, Co Armagh along with DUP MP Carla Lockhart.

The Twelfth of July is an important cultural date enjoyed by many thousands across Northern Ireland.

Thank you to Co Armagh @OrangeOrder for the invitation and opportunity to view today’s parade in Lurgan.

1/2 pic.twitter.com/j1YCB4VTcd

— Chris Heaton-Harris MP (@chhcalling) July 12, 2023

Last night, the majority of an estimated 250 bonfires were lit in loyalist communities across the region to usher in the main date in the parading calendar.

In Newtownards, Co Down, a man was taken to hospital.

It is understood he fell from a bonfire structure in the Portaferry Road area around 10pm.

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A statement from the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service said they received 147 emergency 999 calls between 6pm and 2am – a drop of 28% on last year.

They said 34 of the calls were bonfire-related, one less than last year.

The placing of an image of Sinn Féin vice president Michelle O’Neill and Irish flags on a bonfire in the Eastvale area of Dungannon, as well as an effigy, above a poster bearing the name of Sinn Féin Councillor Taylor McGrann at a bonfire in Rathcoole on the outskirts of Belfast, are being investigated by police as hate crime.

An effigy of Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill on the Eastvale Avenue bonfire in Dungannon PA Images PA Images

Those actions were condemned by representatives from political parties across the divide.

O’Neill said in a tweet this afternoon that those responsible for the effigies should “catch themselves on”.

Those attempting to cause offence with effigies etc should catch themselves on and join the rest of us in building a better future.
I am determined to be a First Minister for all. I will represent the whole community irrespective of who you are and where you come from.

— Michelle O’Neill (@moneillsf) July 12, 2023

Irish flags were also burned on a number of bonfires, while representatives of a number of other parties, including Alliance and the SDLP, also reported seeing their images on bonfires.

One of the largest bonfires, located in Craigyhill, Larne, aimed to raise money for a local toddler who is undergoing cancer treatment.

The Battle of the Boyne in 1690, which unfolded at the Boyne river north of Dublin, saw Protestant King William of Orange defeat Catholic King James II to secure a Protestant line of succession to the British Crown.

Thousands of Orange lodge members parade through the summer months to mark William’s victory and other key dates in Protestant/unionist/loyalist culture.

Those celebrations culminate on the Twelfth.

13 July will see another gathering, this time organised by the Royal Black Preceptory in the village of Scarva, Co Armagh. 

The routes of certain Orange parades became intense friction points during the Troubles, often leading to widespread rioting and violence.

The disputes usually centred on whether or not Orange lodges should be entitled to parade through nationalist areas.

While Orangemen insisted they had the right to parade on public roads following long-established traditional routes, nationalist residents protested at what they characterised as displays of sectarian triumphalism passing through their neighbourhoods.

The number of flashpoints has reduced significantly in the peace process years.

DUP Leader Jeffrey Donaldson has encouraged peaceful and positive 12 July celebrations.

“Celebrations over the 11th and 12th are part of the cultural fabric of Northern Ireland and for the vast majority of us they are an occasion where families will come together, often travelling home from wherever they now live to enjoy the occasion together,” he said.

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“I am proud of my culture and my tradition, but I recognise that there are different cultures and traditions within Northern Ireland. For those of us who do cherish the legacy of the Glorious Revolution then the best way to show that to others is through peaceful and positive celebrations.

“Those don’t include the burning of flags or election posters on a bonfire, but thankfully in the vast majority of cases that does not happen.

“Unfortunately, it will be a minority of cases where offence is caused that will dominate the headlines. As unionists we need to recognise that such incidents are self-inflicted wounds.”