PSNI: Meeting with loyalist band protestors '˜constructive'

The protestors, numbering perhaps three dozen, attended Musgrave PSNI station during the evening, bearing union flags and pages with slogans on them.

They were reacting to an incident on Tuesday March 29, when officers arrested a man and used CS gas at a Junior Orange parade involving South Belfast Young Conquerors (SBYC).

One picture carried by protestors involved a mock can of pepper spray, saying that it is was “only to be use on Protestant Unionionist Loyalist people”.

Many pictures bore the words Justice For The SBYC.

A Facebook page bearing this name was among those last week which posted a picture of one of the officers whom it was claimed was involved in the incident – a tactic which drew criticism from a string of sources, including the Chief Constable, due to the grave threat posed to the security forces by dissident republicans and others.

After the meeting on Tuesday, Superintendent Jonathan Roberts said in a statement: “This evening, a demonstration took place outside Musgrave Police Station.

“Senior Police from Belfast City District met a small delegation and there was a constructive discussion around a number of issues relating to the parade on the Ormeau Road on Tuesday, March 29.”