Police have been cleared of blame for their handling of a controversial July 12th march in north Belfast, which ended in violence. Their actions complied with human rights legislation, an independent report has found.
Human rights experts, Ms Jane Gordon and Mr Kier Starmer QC, were called in by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to assess police conduct at the Orange march past Ardoyne.
However, the monitors concluded that a court ruling made days before the march would make the policing of future contentious parades more difficult.
The parade, in which members of north Belfast Orange Lodges made their return journey home from the city centre, was bound by restrictions imposed by the Parades Commission. It had also been the subject of a judicial review, which held that Orange supporters and followers should not be considered part of the parade, thus placing them outside the commission's influence.
The PSNI, with the British army in support, was criticised by the SDLP and Sinn Féin at the time. In particular, nationalist protesters were angry that more than 200 loyalist supporters were marshalled past the notorious Ardoyne flashpoint by police officers shortly after the Orangemen had marched by.
The human rights monitors, who said they had open access to CCTV recordings and other evidence, found the policing decisions to be lawful. However, they expressed concerns about a range of points connected to the parade and the subsequent violence.
Their report said the judicial review by Mr Justice Weatherup "had a profound effect on the policing operation" because, in the judge's view, supporters or followers of the parade were not deemed part of the parade.
They, therefore, could not be subject to conditions laid down by the Parades Commission - prompting a significant change in the PSNI approach.
Other "serious concerns"included the effect of Mr Justice Weatherup's review on future contentious parades, the quality of communication between the Parades Commission and the PSNI and the effectiveness of British army roadblocks around the north Belfast flashpoint.
Mr Fred Cobain, an Ulster Unionist Policing Board member, said the report destroyed republican and nationalist claims that the parade was unlawful or that supporters were displaying paramilitary insignia. "Serious mistakes were made by the Parades Commission which calls into question their very existence and backs up the critical comments made about the body," he said.
North Belfast MP Mr Nigel Dodds said: "No nationalist or republican can now credibly maintain their previous position. Those nationalist and republican politicians who stoked up the tensions must consider their culpability for the events of the Twelfth of July evening in Ardoyne." He also called for abolition of the Parades Commission.
For Sinn Féin, Mr Gerry Kelly said: "The report simply rubber stamps the PSNI operation which forced an anti-Catholic mob through Catholic areas and will cause further anger and offence within the broad nationalist community." He condemned the SDLP for taking its seats on the Policing Board and for claiming the board would monitor the police and hold them to account. He challenged Mr Alex Attwood to debate policing with him.
Mr Attwood accepted adding: "I am sure that he will agree that the debate should cover what the policing Oversight Commissioner refers to as 'excellent progress' on policing; what the Oversight Commissioner refers to as changes to special Branch which 'comply with international best practice', which covers what Denis Bradley has referred to as 'massive change and wonderful work' on policing."