Commission blocks Belfast loyalist parade from marching on lower Ormeau Road

A loyalist parade has been prohibited from marching along the lower Ormeau Road in Belfast, the Irish Examiner reported on Thursday. The Belfast Telegraph and BreakingNews.ie both report that the decision to block the march was made by the Parades Commission. [1][2][3]

The Belfast Walker Club, which is a branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, had applied to march from the Ballynafeigh Orange Hall along the Ormeau Road, according to the Irish Examiner. The proposed route would have crossed the Ormeau Bridge into the lower Ormeau Road to Donegall Pass, where participants intended to join a main parade heading to the cenotaph. [1]

The Irish Examiner reported that loyal order parades have not been permitted to march through the lower Ormeau Road since disorder occurred in the area during the 1990s. The Lower Ormeau Concerned Community group had submitted an application to hold a protest against the planned parade. [1]

Ormeau Road forms part of the A24 route in south Belfast and runs adjacent to Ormeau Park. As FTMQ News reported earlier, marching disputes in Northern Ireland fall under regulatory scrutiny from the Parades Commission, which recently faced legal challenges regarding separate parade decisions in Portadown. [4][5][6]