Northern Ireland lawmakers decry parade ban that set off riots

Lawmakers in Northern Ireland have passed a motion criticizing the restrictions placed on an Orange Order parade that set off five days of violent protests by Protestant loyalists.

The Northern Ireland Assembly was recalled for a special session Tuesday to debate a decision by the Parades Commission to restrict an Orangemen's march through a Catholic area of Belfast after the July 12 celebrations marking the Protestant victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

The commission oversees the annual parades that take place during the so-called marching season in spring and summer that have long been flashpoints for violent sectarian clashes between Catholic Irish nationalists, who support Irish independence and a unified Irish republic, and Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who have a historic allegiance to the British Crown.

The commission's decision to bar the Protestant marchers from passing through the Ardoyne neighbourhood of Belfast, an area populated mainly by Catholic Irish nationalists, on their way back from their celebrations incited several days of rioting that left more than 70 police officers injured and led to the arrest of several dozen people.

The BBC reported that a motion put forward by the Democratic Unionist Party calling the Parades Commission's decision "illogical" passed narrowly in a vote of 43 to 42.

The motion called for "tolerance to be shown for everyone's cultural identity."

All-party group to examine sensitive issues

An amendment to the motion by the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein that would have mandated talks between the organizers of the Orange Order parade and the nationalists who object to having the parades in their neighbourhoods failed to pass by three votes, the BBC reported.

First Minister Peter Robinson, who heads the DUP and together with Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness is joint leader of Northern Ireland's government, said the commission's decision to allow the marchers to walk down a road separating Catholic and Protestant neighboourhoods on their way to the Battle of the Boyne event but not on the way back was political and "completely wrong."

But Robinson also decried the violence of the past few days, which has included attacks directed at police and clashes between loyalists and republicans.

In the wake of the riots, members of the legislature have agreed to form an all-party group aimed at addressing hot-button issues such as parades, protests, flags, symbols and emblems, as well as problems related to the long-standing historical conflict between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

The group will also be charged with finding an alternative body to replace the Parades Commission.

The all-party process will be chaired by Richard Haass, a former U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland.

'Thuggery on a grand scale'

The Irish Mirror reported that about 60 people have been arrested over five days of protests, which on Monday spread from the north and east ends of Belfast to Portadown in County Armagh, south of the city.

Protesters have been venting their anger by launching an assortment of projectiles at police officers trying to keep the peace, including homemade bombs packed with explosives, known as blast bombs, petrol bombs and other missiles, prompting Chief Const. Matt Baggott of the Police Service of Northern Ireland to call the protests "thuggery on a grand scale."

"Officers were viciously attacked by fireworks, by other missiles, by masonry, by ball bearings fired by catapults, by laser pens, by ceremonial swords and by a whole range of weapons and missiles," Baggott said in a statement on the weekend.

Riot police have been fending off the attacks with water cannons and plastic bullets and several hundred reinforcements were called in from England, Wales and Scotland to back up the thousands of officers deployed on the streets of Belfast since last Friday.

'Having called thousands of people to protest, they had no plan and no control.' — Chief Const. Matt Baggott, Police Service of Northern Ireland

Baggott had earlier criticized the leaders of the Orange Order for being "reckless" in their response to the parade restriction.

"Some of their language was emotive, and having called thousands of people to protest, they had no plan and no control," he said in a statement.

He had urged the members of the Assembly to find political solutions to the disputes fuelling the riots.

U.S., Britain voice concern

Britain, Ireland and the U.S. had all voiced concern over the riots.

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden on Monday spoke with Robinson and McGuinness by phone and welcomed the launch of a the all-party process.

According to a White House statement, Biden also spoke with Haass and pledged the full support of the United States for the work of the all-party group. 

Tackling sensitive issues "will require political courage, creativity, and compromise on the part of all Northern Ireland’s political parties," the White House statement said. 

U.S. President Barack Obama visited Belfast last month for the G8 summit and praised the Northern Ireland peace process as a blueprint for resolving conflicts in other parts of the world.

"The terms of peace may be negotiated by political leaders, but the fate of peace is up to each of us," he told a group of teenagers from nationalist and loyalist communities at the time.