Dissidents will not drag the North back to darker times

World of Politics with Harry McGee – harrymcgee@gmail.com

The only riot I ever witnessed was in Derry. It must have been in August 1996 or August 1997. A little explanation is necessary. The IRA had declared a ceasefire in 1994, but that had been broken in 1996. Then a second ceasefire was called and that led to the Good Friday Agreement of Easter 1998.

The North was edging towards a peace, but there were still lingering seismic tremors.

Most had to do with the Loyalist marching season. Every year, hundreds of thousands of Orangemen wearing their sashes and bowler hats would march up and down the Queen’s highways of the North, in commemoration of King Billy and 1690.

It was a symbolic show of strength, to show the Catholic population that they marched and controlled the roads they marched upon.

The motives might have been slightly more altruistic before the Troubles, but they became acts of triumphalism during the years of violence. And when they passed close to Nationalist areas, it always led to skirmishes and rioting.

So in the 1990s there were a small number of parades that were particularly contentious. There were a few in Belfast, particularly one that went near the republican Ardoyne area in the north of the city.

The main flashpoint, though, was in Portadown in Armagh. An Orange march went around the town every year and its route included the Garvaghy Road, which was Nationalist. Every year as it passed down, there would be sectarian taunts from the marchers and local residents in the milder year, and full-blown riots in the worst years. It developed into a nasty stand-off that went on for years and became a huge media event every July.

For a few years, there was also a similar situation in Derry but it never reached the same magnitude of hate and division. It happened later, in August, when Loyalists commemorated the siege of Derry, when Jacobites attacked the walled city of Derry but were repelled by a small force comprised largely of Apprentice Boys.

The Orange march, led by a group called the Black Preceptory, had marched through Catholic areas in the past but residents’ groups, essentially vehicles dominated by Sinn Féin, had become very active in the late 1990s at ensuring they did not go through Nationalist areas without negotiation. It was a very effective strategy for Republicans at pushing the Republican line of equality of esteem, and equality of access.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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