Loyalist Communities Council chairman on Twaddell: Time to respect Orange rights for first time in nine years

David Campbell was commenting after a breakdown in relations between the Orange hierarchy in Belfast and the Crumlin / Ardoyne Residents’ Association over parading at a notorious north Belfast flashpoint.

• Parades Commission imposes restrictions on 'tour of the north' parade in Belfast – one of the first major events of the marching season

• 'No appetite' for trouble after top Orangeman announces breakdown in Twaddell dispute parading deal

A nationalist protestor on the Crumlin Road from the then-Greater Ardoyne Residents' Committee: October 1, 2016

– SO HOW DID THIS ALL START? –

When the Parades Commission allowed three Ligoniel lodges to parade down the Crumlin Road on the Twelfth 2013, but then refused them permission to return in the evening, what followed were three years of intense street protests and occasional violence.

The route they wanted to travel runs between the loyalist Twaddell Avenue neighbourhood the republican Ardoyne neighbourhood.

Republicans argued that this was a march “through” a part of the city where the Orangemen were not welcome; Orangemen countered that the Crumlin Road is a main arterial route open to all, and that it runs past a row of shops, not through the residential estate.

In 2016 a deal was done whereby the three Ligoniel lodges could symbolically complete their 2013 route, after which the Orange Order would not apply for any more evening marches in the area on the Twelfth.

The deal was not meant to be an end in itself – it was meant to be a stopgap until a wider understanding was reached between both sides.

Now the Order says this has never transpired, so they are applying to march along the Crumlin Road on the evening of the 2024 Twelfth, and CARA plans a street protest in response.

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– ‘IS THIS OUR NEW IRELAND?’ –

Mr Campbell, a former chairman of the UUP, now chairs the LCC, which brings together representatives of the UVF, mainstream UDA (not the South East Antrim wing), and the small UVF-linked group the Red Hand Commando.

The three groups between them murdered around 1,000 people during the Troubles, mainly Catholic civilians.

Asked about the new rising tensions around Twaddell, Mr Campbell told the News Letter: “In agreeing the Twaddell Agreement eight years ago, the Orange lodges made significant concessions on their traditional parades in the hope that, over time, there might be agreement on the resumption of some limited parades.

"I would have thought that waiting eight years and committing to community dialogue during that time showed a responsible attitude from the lodges, and one that should have been reciprocated by the residents.

“By failing to reciprocate, the nationalist residents are demonstrating intolerance and poor neighbourliness towards the loyalist/unionist community.

"Is this an example of what would await unionism in a Sinn Fein 'new Ireland'?

"I hope on reflection the spirit of the Twaddell Agreement might be honoured and agreement found to allow respectful recognition of the Orange tradition.

"It is also incumbent on the Parades Commission and the PSNI to show respect for the Orange tradition and to give effect to Orange rights for once in nine years.”