Rasharkin parade allowed through village

Published Friday, 12 August 2011

The Parades Commission has given the go-ahead for a loyalist parade to march through the county Antrim village of Rasharkin.

The Ballymaconnelly Sons of Conquerors Flute Band will be allowed to parade through Main Street but must take a different route home next Friday.

It had originally applied to return along the same route but the parades watchdog has refused.

The parade will return to the dispersal point via the Moneyleck Road and Glebe Road and must disperse before 9.30pm.

The planned protest must disperse once the parade has passed the location of the protest, the commission ruled.

The watchdog said the restrictions were decided in "the absence of an agreed outcome".

"In the absence of direct dialogue, and taking account of the representations it has heard, the Commission considers it appropriate on this occasion to place conditions on the parade. The Commission knows that its decision will not please all those who either support or oppose the parade," it said.

Local Sinn Féin MLA Daithí McKay said residents in the village are "livid" at the decision.

"The Rasharkin Residents Association will be meeting to decide whether to appeal the decision."

"The band has made no effort to engage with local residents and the parades commission has not taken that into account when making this decision," he said.

TUV Leader Jim Allister said the determination is a "sop to the protestors."

"Instead of standing up to those who last year threw golf balls and organised a hoax bomb, the commission has rewarded them," the North Antrim MLA added.

"It is unnecessary and wrong that the traditional route up and back down the main street is being restricted."

Comments

28 Comments

Davy McFaul in South Derry wrote (282 days ago):

That's a great piece of attempted historical revisionism there On, (Head?), The Ball. Did the books that you read that "history" in have crayons with them or are you just relying on what the lads down at the Lodge tell you? Please supply credible links to verify your fantastically chimerical 'history lesson.

BIG HARD MAD CLEVER EGOMANIAC 2 in belfast wrote (283 days ago):

Ernest, where do i start with your lies and deceit? Firstly, why do you keep changing your name when your one track mind, tunnel vision, bigotted and ignorant outlook on life never changes. The names you pick say it all... 'BIG' ernest, the MAD MONK, 'ON THE BALL' all speak volumes about your need to twist the truth and inflate your ego.

on the ball ..... in monkstown wrote (284 days ago):

@JOAN, where do i start with your lies and deceit , firstly it is british soil the same way over the border is irish soil , now i have seen another joke post proclaiming the whole island as one , when did that ever happen apart from when the english united ireland and made it function ? did you know tyhis island was barren and truth be told you are also a settler ? when was the dream to unite ireland before the british did it ? did you know that ulster clansmen have fought off the advances of the rest of this island from the earliest recorded time and sided with every major invader against the rest of the island ? yet here you are telling us we must belong to a country that has been in exsistance since the early 1920's lol , i m irish just like you , yet not southern irish , this 6 counties nonsense you speak off , did you get your wee quotes from a sf pamphlet lol ? your just another uniterd ireland mouthpiece waffling without looking at facts ...

maert watp in belfast wrote (284 days ago):

joan like it or not but this is British soil , with British money with the Queens head on it , if you cant accept that then dont claim your british benefits .

Subby in Belfast but from North Antrim wrote (284 days ago):

Protestant Rasharkin villagers were put out of Rasharkin through intimidation via a small well known republican clique. The mindset of the intimidatory thugs, much like PADDY and his first post, goes to show that this country is doomed to be stuck in a rut. If the marchers want to march, let them. It's NOT YOUR highway Paddy et al. it's the queens highway and as such nobody owns it. I have to put up with Internment marches, Hunger strike marches, etc all the time but I don't whinge on about it, I let them do it as it's their culture and they want to celebrate it. Quit the "we are all victims" moaning that seems to be prevalent these days and let them march for a couple of hours....why not avoid the Orange order march Paddy by going on the Republican march in Belfast, seems right up your street!

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