Whiterock parade success hailed
Whiterock’s Orange parade has been hailed as a hugely successful celebration of culture and heritage.
Once a controversial event due to its route close to the nationalist Ardoyne area, the Belfast estate’s big day is now a flourishing and jubilant part of the calendar.
As North Belfast MLA Brian Kingston put it: “The organisers of the Whiterock Parade are to be congratulated on a hugely successful day. It was fantastic to see so many people participating and lining the route to enjoy a colourful celebration of culture and heritage.
“There has been a very welcome reduction in tensions that previously surrounded a number of parades in Belfast and elsewhere. That allows a much greater ability for them to be recognised as the community celebrations they always have been.”
The DUP MLA also hailed the recent resurgence in Orange arches – overhead structures providing a visual representation of the Orange Order's traditions and commemorations, especially the Battle of the Boyne – as a vital development of recent years.
“Within the unionist community, there has been a significant re-engagement with cultural traditions such as the erection of Orange arches,” he said.
“Clifton Steet marked the unveiling of the first new arch in Belfast in many years back in 2022. That has been joined by new military and Orange arches on the Shankill Road, and a new Orange arch due to be officially opened on Templemore Avenue on Monday evening.
“These arches, like parades such as the Whiterock, are integral to the cultural fabric of Northern Ireland. It is fantastic to see them not just continuing, but flourishing.”