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Parading is one of the most popular and common forms of cultural celebration around the world, from Bastille day in France to the 4 July parades in the US. It brings millions of people across the globe out on to the streets to take part in something that provides enjoyment and colour in many lives.
Parades have been made a contentious issue by republicans in Northern Ireland since the early 1980s-including the right of process in Portadown. It has also long been the policy of Sinn Fein to turn the ordinary people of Northern Ireland against parades, by making them appear to be more of a hindrance than a form of celebration.
The Orangemen are the real victims in all this. It is the residents of the Garvaghy road and the Ormeau road who sought, through a sectarian campaign, to make the order look bad by playing the victim themselves. The residents do not like to talk about their blinkered and sectarian motives.
In the early to mid-1990s, Sinn Fein, through so-called residents' groups, actively campaigned to disrupt and stop Orangemen walking their traditional routes. Parades that traditionally took place in Drumcree, Portadown, County Armagh and the Ormeau road in south Belfast immediately come to mind. Orangemen in Drumcree had walked their route for at least 150 years, largely without trouble, until republicans focused on parades. My right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson) has obviously been researching the same material as I have, but it is worth reiterating what Gerry Adams said on the issue:
"Ask any activist in the north, did Drumcree happen by accident, and they will tell you 'no'. Three years of work on the Lower Ormeau Road, Portadown, and parts of Fermanagh and Newry, Armagh and in Bellaghy, and up in Derry."-
"Three years of work went into creating that situation and fair play to those people who put the work in. They are the type of scene changes that we have to focus on and develop and exploit."
I did not hear the hon. Members for Foyle and for South Down put down that sort of mentality. Instead, they berated us at every turn- [ Interruption. ] If they did, I did not hear it and I apologise-
Mark Durkan: I made direct reference to what the right hon. Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson) said. I took no issue with it and I pointed out the danger that it could be repeated under the new regime that is being discussed. Many of the people involved with the dissidents are of the old school that was involved in precisely the activities that the hon. Lady has just mentioned.
Mrs. Robinson: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his clarification, but I honestly did not hear that. He went on quite some time.
What Mr. Adams demonstrates here is his party's blatant disregard for traditional parading and his use of it for political gain. This is a tactic employed by Sinn Fein in order to heighten sectarian tensions after the ceasefires, and to turn the spotlight on Unionists in order to make us as a people look sectarian and bigoted. It is its aim to label loyalists and Unionists as sectarian.
Nationalists and republicans have sought to organise protests labelled as peaceful. This year, we saw violent behaviour on the Springfield road in the middle of the annual Whiterock parade. Orangemen waited up to one
hour to gain access through the Workman's gate, which separates the Springfield road from the Shankill. When the Orangemen walked through they were pelted with missiles and verbal abuse. Many of those waiting at the other side of the gate were not from the area and had been transported in to allow the media to get some good photographs, knowing that those images would be sent around the world for all to see.
We see sectarian tensions being stirred up in many areas of County Antrim, namely Dunloy and Rasharkin. Members of the loyal orders as well as band members who live locally have been subject to abuse on and off parade as well as having their homes attacked. That has been orchestrated by Sinn Fein, once again seeking to stir and create angry confrontations in the north Antrim area of Rasharkin. Protestants are being chased from small predominantly Catholic towns that were previously evenly mixed in north Antrim. Only a few weeks ago a man had his house attacked for the second time this year. He is now going to leave his home. Such people need help from the Northern Ireland Office, and they need protection.
Parading in Northern Ireland is viewed by Sinn Fein as a product of British imperialism. It has been jumped upon by Sinn Fein, which argues that Unionists have no culture and no identity. It sees it as something that it can manipulate and undermine for its benefit. In the early 1990s, Gerry Adams, a self-proclaimed author, argued that Ireland would not be free until all elements of Britishness were removed from the state of Northern Ireland. That included Orange parades. When one reads the stories of Drumcree, one comes to understand what republicans sought to do. In many ways they were successful. However, it highlights the strength and power of republicanism and how they sought to undermine the rights of those men wanting to parade. It demonstrates the fascist nature of Sinn Fein.
We now have Sinn Fein blocking Orangemen from parading through the Parades Commission, and waving the word "dialogue" in front of the commission. This summer we had the self-proclaimed peacemaker, Gerry Adams, offer to have talks with the Orange Order. This image of Gerry Adams today contradicts the real picture of him over 10 years ago.
On 14 July this year, Martin McGuinness said:
"If the Orange Order are serious about wanting nationalist and republican political leaders to respect them, then they need to respect our community and respect the wishes of the vast majority of people to live in peace free from sectarian harassment. To date the leadership of the Orange Order have refused to meet with Sinn Fein, the party most nationalists actually vote for. What message does that send out about respecting the nationalist community? The Orange Order need to sit down face to face with Sinn Fein and I once again today extend that invitation."
This statement stinks of hypocrisy. Sinn Fein is seeking to play the honest broker here, despite planting the seeds of conflict over parades.
The Parades Commission, established in 1998, sought to regulate parades in Northern Ireland, and it is felt by many in the Unionist community that the Parades Commission, as an unelected organisation, simply seeks to discriminate against it as a community. Through its unelected representatives, put there by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, it seeks to act for the
Northern Ireland Office. Its set up is simply seen as creating bureaucracy and setting hurdles for bands and lodges to jump through. As a body appointed and set up by the Government it is not representative of the community, nor is it publicly accountable. It needs to go. That is something that my party has long campaigned for.
I do not wish to go into history in much detail, but I have to say this. Many people in this very House would not be standing here if it were not for the efforts of King William of Orange who defeated King James at the Boyne. We owe a great debt of gratitude to the revolution of 1688. I accept that times have changed, but we must not forget our history.
Orangemen have a right to parade. That right is on the same level as the freedoms of speech and protest. These rights are being undermined by our Government, who have bought into the Sinn Fein idea that the Orange Order is part of the problem, just as they did with the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the Ulster Defence Regiment. As a Government who talk about community inclusion and cohesion and about building a multicultural society, it is obvious that they seek to exclude Northern Ireland Orangemen from that policy.
I am calling on our Government to understand Unionist history, identity and culture-much of which is shared with the rest of this United Kingdom. Our Government have sought to erase our identity by the removal of all things British, from symbols to flags to the dilution of the English language through the promotion of Irish. The people of Ulster are some of the most loyal subjects of this kingdom, yet our Government continue to dance to the republican record. I urge the Government to listen to the views of right hon. and hon. Members from my party and seek consensus on a way of dealing with this issue once and for all.
9.6 pm
Mr. Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP): Parading is very important to many people in Northern Ireland; it is a fundamental aspect of cultural commemoration. In fact, as has been mentioned by a number of hon. Members, there are several thousand parades in Northern Ireland. Many are uniformed youth organisation parades, church parades and mayors' parades that are totally innocuous and that are not referred to the Parades Commission or anyone else, because they proceed without let or hindrance on a regular basis.
A small number of parades that have been mentioned this evening and on many occasions in recent years have been subject to problems as a result of an orchestrated campaign against them. For a moment or two, I want to discuss an issue that was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for South Antrim (Dr. McCrea) and that is oftentimes not referred to. There are parades in Northern Ireland, such as the one that I am sure that my hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (David Simpson) will refer to shortly, which goes close to the Garvaghy road and the nationalist area there, and the parade in Rasharkin in County Antrim, a village where there is a Catholic majority. However, parades in other parts of Northern Ireland are nationalist in nature and they go through predominantly Unionist towns and villages. That, for some reason, receives very little attention or media interest. The reason for that is that they are not controversial, because no one in those villages or towns decides to orchestrate planned opposition to those parades.
I refer to parades such as those that take place in Desertmartin, in Kilkeel in south Down and in Limavady in my constituency each St. Patrick's day. Those towns are predominantly Unionist or predominantly Protestant; the parades are nationalist or Catholic parades. The host community, as they are sometimes called by those who object to Orange parades, does not object to those parades taking place. They are therefore not referred to the Parades Commission, there is no controversy and no dispute and they proceed unhindered. The problem, of course, is that in the other areas, such as Portadown and Rasharkin, there is not the same reaction. Communities in those areas decide that they will orchestrate opposition and objection and we therefore have some of the problems that have been mentioned.
On a number of occasions in recent weeks, it has been said that the entire issue of policing and justice is part of the completion process in our devolutionary journey. Members have also said that, without the issue of parading being resolved, the devolution of those powers would be a hollow achievement that might, in fact, backfire badly. I concur with that opinion, because, otherwise, we could have the annual prospect-this July, next July and the July after that-of an unresolved problem that is kept at the forefront of people's minds. There has been agitation by dissidents, and I accept the Government's view on that agitation; however, on several occasions there has also been agitation by Sinn Fein representatives.
For example, in Rasharkin, the local Assembly Member was, unfortunately, identified as being part of a crowd in vocal and subsequently violent opposition to the loyal order parade that was taking place. That is more than deeply regrettable; it is something that must be resolved. That political party, Sinn Fein, needs to do much more in ensuring that its MLAs and other public representatives not only do less to provoke tension, but do more to try to ensure that there is less opposition to parades. We need to move forward, beyond the Parades Commission, and I know that the Minister in his early submission indicated that, whatever the commission's relevance 11 years ago, times have moved on. They have, and I hope that we can get the Ashdown review out in the open and hear comments that are based on the facts, as opposed to people's fears or concerns about what it might propose.
I shall close by mentioning further moves that Sinn Fein needs to make to try to defuse tensions and local problems in local areas. For example, in my constituency just last week, the local Sinn Fein Assembly Member, Mr. Francie Brolly, who is aged 71, announced that he intends to stand down from the Assembly within the next few weeks. At the close of any career, be it in politics or other parts of the republican movement, a person who steps to one side can do much to defuse tensions in relation to parades and other matters that need to be resolved, such as the Claudy bomb in 1972. If the hon. Member who represents Sinn Fein in that House had some revelations or disclosures to make about any part that he may have played, along with the late "Father" James Chesney, many people would I am sure welcome that closure. We all need to work towards further progress on parades in order to bring closure to an aspect of our past and to allow people to parade in peace and security.
9.13 pm
David Simpson (Upper Bann) (DUP): In supporting this very important motion, I declare an interest: my membership of the Orange Institution, the Royal Black Institution and the Apprentice Boys of Londonderry. My family have been associated with those organisations for well over 100 years, and I am very proud of that fact.
Dr. McCrea: You're not that old.
David Simpson: I'm not that old, no.
I am aware that the significance and centrality of parading in Northern Ireland is not always fully appreciated or understood on the mainland, but, whatever view one holds of Ulster's parading tradition, the motion raises some fundamental points of principle that go to the heart of democracy. Famously, it has been said, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."
I am not asking everyone to share the importance attached to parading by many people in Ulster, including myself, but surely the default position must always be to defend the basic right to assemble and to process freely. The right of free assembly and procession is a human right long fought for and hard won. A nation such as this, at a time such as this, when we remember the sacrifice of those, numbered in their millions, who fell in defence of basic freedoms, should above all others defend and cherish those basic rights and freedoms.
Indeed, I will go further. If this freedom is to be denied, those who would deny it must present a cast-iron court case for that denial-but that has not happened in Northern Ireland. The right to assemble and process on the streets of Ulster has been challenged by so-called residents groups, which were spawned largely by Sinn Fein. That was not done out of a sense of offence, but purely for political reasons and political advantage. That has even been claimed by Gerry Adams. My right hon. Friend the Member for Belfast, East (Mr. Robinson) outlined the programme shown in prime time on RTÉ in 1997, a brief part of which says:
"Three years of work went into creating that situation and fair play to those people who put the work in. They are the type of scene changes that we have to focus on and develop and-
"exploit."
So disputes around parades are not about offence or triumphalism; they are not about the intimidation of residents. They are a cynical manoeuvre by Sinn Fein to increase their political support. The history of these disputes has proved that to be the case. Sinn Fein have been fully prepared to use the parading issue as a tool in their overall strategy. When it suits them, they defuse tension and reduce open opposition to loyal order marches. On the other hand, when it suits them, they can ratchet up tension.
Let me ask the House this: how does that help to build public confidence? Would not a permanent end to the republican culture war against the loyal orders greatly help the creation of that confidence? Gerry Adams said recently that there will be a place for the loyal orders in a united Ireland-how gracious of him. Yet he is the very same person who has opposed their legitimate place in Northern Ireland right up to this present day. Sadly, the law enforcement authorities have
been tainted with the same sort of attitude. The concerns of politically motivated residents groups are treated on a par with those of the loyal orders. As a result, the right of British citizens to assemble and parade is denied, often on very spurious grounds.
In my own constituency we have one of the most infamous examples of that. Portadown Orangemen seeking to return from their annual service at Drumcree parish church have been unable to do so for well over a decade, despite that parade's having taken place for well over 150 years. The Northern Ireland Parades Commission repeatedly calls for local agreement to be reached in such situations. The Ashdown review of parading also places great emphasis on dialogue and mediation. The local Orange district has agreed to enter into dialogue without any preconditions. One person continues to prevent that from taking place: Mr. Brendan McKenna of the local residents group.
Brendan McKenna is the one person who refuses to talk-and from his perspective, why should he? He has absolutely no incentive to do so. All that he has to do is sit with his arms folded as the Parades Commission does his work for him. Every year-no, I will go further-every week he knows that it will ban the parade. Mr. McKenna, the enemy of civil and religious liberty, is rewarded for refusing to talk. Meanwhile, those who are willing to talk are continually penalised. That utter and craven failure on the part of the Parades Commission is evidence of why it has failed, why it is part of the problem rather than of the solution, and why it must be got rid of. It is a disgrace that individuals such as the Brendan McKennas of this world can hold the entire community to ransom, and that he is facilitated in his bigotry by the Parades Commission.
I cite Drumcree because I am very familiar with it, but I can cite other examples in my constituency. For example, there is the ongoing attempt by republicans to do in Lurgan what they have done in Drumcree. They are attempting to turn parts of the town centre into no-go areas, and they have attempted to deny the loyal orders use of the public transport there as they travel to other parts of the Province for larger parades.
Similar scenarios can be found in different parts of Northern Ireland. On a slightly different but related matter, I can cite the situation in the town of Banbridge, again in my constituency, where republicans are up to their necks in a campaign aimed at sectarianising the town over the issues of flags and some parades. They are trying to create community tensions where none had previously existed. Is that a recipe for public confidence?
There are other problems in other parts of Northern Ireland. I think of the ongoing campaign of sectarian intimidation in places such as Rasharkin, where the Protestant community has been subjected to an unrelenting campaign of abuse, intimidation and violence, all with the sole aim of driving it out of the village. One tactic has been to oppose parades in the village, and who is intimately involved in each protest? It is the local Sinn Fein Member of the Legislative Assembly. Who has people involved at the heart of local residents groups? That is right-once again, it is Sinn Fein. Does the Minister believe that that is a recipe for building public confidence?
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