Protesters injured as RUC clears street to allow loyalist parade

Trouble flared last night in the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler, when RUC officers cleared nationalist protesters off …

Trouble flared last night in the Co Fermanagh village of Newtownbutler, when RUC officers cleared nationalist protesters off the main street to allow a loyalist parade to go ahead.

Six people were taken to hospital with minor injuries as trouble broke out between police and protesters with stones being thrown.

Among those hurt was one person with a suspected broken wrist and another with head injuries.

As clashes occurred between the RUC and residents the injured were brought to a house.

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Shortly after 5 p.m., more than 100 residents mounted a protest an hour before the march to a church service was to take place. Riot police moved in to clear the road forcing residents into the lower end of the town.

Late last night, the Parades Commission led by a retired Presbyterian minister, the Rev Roy Magee, arrived in the village to hold urgent talks with the Newtownbutler Area Residents' Association.

Around 100 Royal Black Preceptory members took part in the parade from the village Orange hall to Galloon parish church.

The Preceptory laid the blame for the trouble with the residents who it said had again confronted them even though the institution had re-routed many marchers during the past year.

However, the Newtownbutler Area Residents' Association condemned the RUC action as "brutal" and criticised the Preceptory for refusing to enter into discussions with them.

Last week, the Parades Commission held separate meetings with the residents' association and local members of the Preceptory but failed to reach agreement.

There was no violence on the return march. The marchers had earlier rejected an appeal from local residents to abandon the return leg of the parade.

The residents are now demanding talks with the parade organisers before next Saturday's two marches.

Fears of a violent backlash at forthcoming contentious parades along the Border have been heightened after an organisation claiming to be the Fermanagh brigade of the INLA threatened to "defend" nationalists.