THE LAST major day of the loyalist marching season passed off peacefully at the weekend.
A loyal order parade went past the Ardoyne shops in north Belfast, which had been the the flashpoint for trouble over the Twelfth of July period, this time without any trouble.
There was a small protest of nationalist residents when the feeder parade of 40 band members and 40 members of the Royal Black Preceptory went by the shops.
Sinn Féin Assembly member for north Belfast Caral Ní Chuilín criticised the decision of the Parades Commission to allow the parade to process past the shops.
“The key to resolving the outstanding issues around contentious parades is for parade organisers to engage in direct, respectful and meaningful dialogue with the people who live in the areas they wish to march through,” she said.
More than 15,000 members of the preceptories were parading in various parts of Northern Ireland. The biggest parade was in Newcastle, Co Down, where more than 100 preceptories and 100 bands participated.
There were also parades in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim; Ballymena, Co Antrim; Kilrea, Co Derry; Loughgall, Co Armagh, and Sixmilecross, Co Tyrone.
Resolutions were read out after each parade on the members’ Christian faith and their loyalty to the British monarch while soldiers in the British army were commended for their service in Afghanistan and other countries.
In Newcastle, Millar Farr, sovereign grand master of the Royal Black Preceptory, said the world was in an economic and moral recession. “Our Christian heritage is being undermined by secular legislation from the European Community. In the so-called search for rights and freedoms, duties and responsibilities are forgotten.”
