Orangemen banned from parading through Belfast last week - a ruling that has triggered five nights of violence in the city - have applied to march the same route this weekend.
The Orange Order submitted the unexpected application to parade past the republican Ardoyne area to the Parades Commission today, with the adjudication body due to rule on the request tomorrow.
The shock move has been denounced by nationalist politicians as “irresponsible”.
A spokesman for the Orange Order said the organisation had no comment to make on the application.
Loyalist riots first flared in the Woodvale Road area of north Belfast on Friday night when Orangemen were prevented from parading past the nearby Ardoyne area on their way home from Orange Order Twelfth of July commemorations. Republicans rioted in Ardoyne last summer when Orangemen were permitted to return past the area.
The Orange Order faced stiff criticism for calling for protests ahead of Friday’s event. In the wake of the trouble, the Order said it was suspending protest action.
In five nights of violence since, which has spread across Belfast and beyond, 71 police officers have been injured and more than 60 people have been arrested.
The application was submitted as the US diplomat tasked with finding a resolution to parading controversies in Northern Ireland arrived in Belfast.
Former White House special envoy to Northern Ireland Dr Richard Haass insisted that politics was the only way to find agreement and said the violence which has erupted on the streets is a reminder of the challenges that remain in the region.
As well as the issue of parades, he will focus on finding agreement on the two other outstanding problems of the peace process — how to deal with the legacy of the Troubles and how to address disputes over flags and symbols. Referring to the recent rioting, the New Yorker stressed that consensus could only be reached through dialogue.
“This has got to be done politically and within the parameters of legitimate political discourse,” he said.
“Disagreements are fine, disagreements are to be expected, but again disagreements are to be dealt with verbally and done within a legitimate and accepted political process.”
Earlier the Orange Order issued a statement claiming it would “willingly and actively participate” in Dr Haass’s initiative - an undertaking welcomed by the diplomat.
However the decision by the North Belfast Orange lodges to apply for another parade prompted an angry reaction from the organisation’s political critics in the region.
Sinn Féin Assembly member for North Belfast Gerry Kelly said: “All this application does is inflame the situation. Tensions need to de-escalate not increase but the Orange Order are still sending out the same confrontational messages. Is there anyone with sense in the Orange Order that is going to pull back from this and realise not only the damage that they are doing to community relations but also to their own organisation. Where is the leadership?”
SDLP MLA for North Belfast Alban Maginness said the application was “unhelpful and irresponsible”. “I am calling on the Orange Order to see sense and withdraw their application,” he said.
“This is particularly important given the community tensions and recent violence. “It is time now for leadership and calm and I am calling on the Orange Order to do the right thing.”
PA