Former Londonderry District Commander reflects on 25 detained in past three years at annual masked dissident republican Easter parade
A former PSNI district commander for Londonderry has urged the PSNI to take on-the-spot arrests at the annual Easter dissident republican parade in the city - after police revealed it has led to some 25 people being detained since 2022.
Violence flared in Londonderry on Easter Monday with around 50 petrol bombs and 50 fireworks thrown at police during the disorder.
The annual Easter Rising parade saw dozens of masked men parade in paramilitary style uniforms.
Police said that young people were used to provide cover for masked adults this year by attacking police to allow the men to change out of uniforms undetected.
The PSNI has now given the News Letter an estimate of arrests relating to the parade over the past three years.
In 2024 police reported one male and one juvenile to the Public Prosecution Service (PPS).
In 2023 six men were arrested under the Terrorism Act with two charged to court, one released following questioning and three released pending a report to PPS. A female arrested was also reported to the PPS.
In 2022 16 men were arrested under the Terrorism Act, all of whom were released pending a report to the PPS. An additional arrest (not under the Terrorism Act) saw a man charged with public order offences.
Bearing in mind the figures, the News Letter asked why more police resources were not used this year.
The PSNI responded that it had “a policing operation in place" to fulfil obligations to uphold Parades Commission restrictions.
Retired senior PSNI officer and former Londonderry District Commander Jon Burrows claimed that only on-the-spot arrests during such a parade will tackle it.
Reflecting on the figures and the low number of files sent to the PPS, he said: "The sight of people dressed in terrorist garb marching brazenly in Londonderry is an affront to democracy and defiance of the rule of law.
"In addition to breaching restrictions imposed by the Parades Commission, it is an offence under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to wear clothing indicating support for, or membership of, a proscribed terrorist group.”
There should be attempts to identify suspects, he said, however at some point tactics at this annual event need to be reconsidered.
"Unless there are arrests made on the day, trying to bring people to justice who are well versed in concealing their identity is very hard."
Mr Burrows said that his logic is based on an operation he led against a similar masked Easter parade in Lurgan in 2018.
"They were all convicted of wearing terrorist uniforms and taking part in an un-notified procession and there was a dramatic reduction in such conduct afterwards," he said.
Politicians must support police if they take robust approach, and officers must be kept safe, but prosecutions are possible, he added.