Banned parade honouring Troubles dead passes off without a hitch: 'We will never forget the sacrifice of those we came to honour' say marchers.
A parade marking Troubles victims brought a solemn commemoration to a Co Down city at the weekend – one year after it was banned.
The event honouring Orange Order victims of Republican violence took place in Bangor on Sunday, with around 100 marchers braving heavy rain to walk to the seaside city’s war memorial.
It took place one year after the parade was blocked by the local council, which owns the park that houses the cenotaph.
But after passing £6,000 equality tests run by Ards and North Down Council, parade participants have finally been able to remember their dead in the manner they always wanted.
Orange Victims Day marks 343 Orangemen who lost their lives to violence during the Troubles, and is timed to match the September 1975 Tullyvallen massacre – an IRA atrocity in which five men were murdered and many others injured in a sectarian gun attack on a meeting of their Co Armagh lodge.
With this year marking the 50th anniversary of the massacre, the parade was especially important to organisers. Bangor’s Grand District Master, Gary Taylor, told the News Letter the date “reminds us of the real human cost of terrorism and the continuing duty to ensure that such sacrifice is never forgotten”.
Setting off from Bangor Orange Hall at 2.15pm, the parade saw a solemn act of remembrance at the war memorial. Wreaths were laid in tribute, with a moment of silence to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of victims.
Said Mr Taylor: “We thank everyone who turned out, especially our own brethren and the visiting brethren who joined us.”
When the lodge tried to set up the same parade last summer, however, they were shocked to be hit with a demand for a full Equality Impact Assessment from Ards and North Down Borough Council.
Running those tests can take up to three months; as there wasn’t enough time to carry them out before the September commemoration, the parade was banned from entering the city’s council-owned Ward Park and travelling to the war memorial inside it.
This year, organisers submitted its applications and went through equality tests well in advance, passing with flying colours.
When they were given a green light a few weeks ago, council reports said the tests cost around £6,000, while the public overwhelmingly backed the commemoration, with over 80% of respondents in favour of it going ahead in full.
Last year’s ban sparked outrage, with many questioning why the parade should be banned from a public park. Even this year, eyebrows were raised over why the organisers were forced to jump through the hoops of a formal Equality Impact Assessment.
Said Mr Taylor: “The decision to block last year’s commemoration caused real hurt but this year, having met every requirement, our act of remembrance rightly went ahead.
“On this Orange Victims Day, and in this 50th anniversary year of the Tullyvallen massacre, we pledge that their memory will endure. We will never forget the sacrifice of those we came to honour.
“Bangor District reaffirms its commitment to ensuring that Orange Victims Day remains an uninterrupted moment of dignity and remembrance for generations to come.”