BELFAST – Drums thumping and bands blaring, Protestant „Orangemen“ marched in Northern Ireland on Thursday trumpeting links with Britain that many of them fear are threatened by what they see as a one-side peace process. Many in the province‘s Protestant community believe far too many concessions have been made to the Roman Catholic minority in the province who favour union with the Irish Republic.

In the centre of Belfast, Protestants of all ages cheered and waved British „Union Flags“ as members of the Orange Order clad in their traditional orange silk sashes marched past to the accompaniment of pipe, flute and drum bands. Officials wearing black bowler hats and white gloves carried gleaming ceremonial swords, and from the sidewalks friends and families waved and cried out when they spotted their men among the marchers. „The Twelfth“, a public holiday in Northern Ireland, marks the anniversary of the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, when the forces of Protestant William of Orange defeated Catholic King James II. It is the climax of a volatile „marching season“.

But while the Orangemen and their supporters see the day as a time to celebrate their own culture and identity, many Catholics view the marches as an unwelcome display of triumphalism by the majority community. Most parades are trouble free. But the marches that pass through Catholic neighbourhoods have often been the scene of sectarian confrontation and the province‘s Parades Commission now bans the Orangemen from some of the most contentious routes. At one flashpoint on the Lower Ormeau Road in south Belfast, security forces built a steel barricade on Thursday to stop a parade passing over a bridge into a Catholic-dominated enclave, prompting a protest by about 200 Orangemen and supporters.

Orange Order official Noel Liggett said the demonstration was designed to „send a powerful statement“ to Catholics living in the disputed zone that „they should have respect for their

Protestant neighbours“. In the city centre the mood was lighter. Families armed with folding chairs and plastic flags lined the streets to watch the marchers and bands pass in a carnival atmosphere.

„This is part of the heritage I grew up with,“ said one man, watching the parade with his two children. „To me it‘s not offensive. It‘s only offensive to people who want to be offended.“

Reuters