‘I hope that people continue to take responsibility for their own actions and they need to understand that, as I’ve said throughout the past couple of weeks, the police will do our piece to keep people safe and also to collect evidence where people step outside of the law’ – Chief Constable George Hamilton of the PSNI.
THE PSNI HAS said it is pleased with the outcome of yesterday’s marching for the Twelfth in Northern Ireland.
The day involved around 18 marches by Orange Order groups around the province. Last year, riots broke out and there were fears that similar behaviour could have occurred yesterday.
The Orange Order has pledged to step up its political campaign against the Commission RTÉ reports this morning.
In a statement, the Commission said:
The Parades Commission commends those who ensured that this year’s ‘Twelfth’ passed without major incident. The work which takes place at grassroots level by parade and protest organisers, and local politicians is challenging but invaluable.Reducing tension and instances of public disorder is an encouraging backdrop against which to address outstanding parading issues through sincere, meaningful and sustained dialogue.”
One of the hotspots was the Ardoyne area, as the Parades Commission had barred the Orange Order from marching back down the Crumlin Road yesterday evening.
That had led to a walk-out by Unionist parties during cross-party negotiations in Stormont.
Thankfully, yesterday’s marches passed off without major incident.
Chief Constable George Hamilton of the PSNI said:
I am pleased that today’s Twelfth parades have passed off largely successfully and that those taking part were able to enjoy their day. This has been due to a number of factors, including responsible leadership from a range of groups such as the Orange Order. I welcome the repeated pleas from the Orange Order and politicians from all sides for all parades and protests to be peaceful and lawful.
He said the PSNI’s focus “is on keeping communities safe and our job has been made immensely easier today by the responsible attitude by all parties concerned”.
“We have had a quiet and peaceful parading season up to and including today and I hope that this continues for the rest of the summer,” said Constable Hamilton.
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