SNP boss Nicola Sturgeon quits: Outgoing Scottish separatist leader suggested Orange marches could be regulated by Northern Ireland-style parades commission

One such example was in 2021, when Mrs Sturgeon told the Scottish Parliament she was “happy for the Government to give... further consideration” to the idea of a Scottish Parades Commission.

She was reacting in September that year to renewed tensions around recent loyalist marches in Glasgow.

Glasgow MSP James Dornan had asked her: “Given those events, will the First Minister consider the creation of a parades commission, similar to that in Northern Ireland, to take a non-partisan and independent look at the number and routes of such parades?

"Anyone old enough to remember the annual battles at Drumcree will verify the difference that the commission has made in Northern Ireland...

“I am in no doubt that, just as in Northern Ireland, a parades commission would go a long way towards taking some of the heat out of the discussion of parades.”

She had replied that there is an “important balance of rights” to be struck, “between peaceful procession and freedom of speech and the ability of people to go about their daily lives without feeling unsafe or facing harassment”.

As such, she said: “I will ask the justice secretary to consider the possible creation of a parades commission as part of that.”

However, a task force looked into the matter and in November 2022 issued a report rejecting the idea of such a body.

Instead it suggested “several measures appropriate to particular areas of Scotland where specific challenges have arisen”.

It suggested training for stewards, the development of “mediation practice” across society, and said “further consideration might be given to the question of whether local authorities should be empowered to impose conditions on related counter-protests and/or on the supporters of processions”.

But it emphasised that “we have not heard evidence that would justify the transplantation of the NI Parades Commission model to Scotland”.

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