Politics has no place in Halloween celebrations says Ulster-Scots band member after Palestinian flags left flying at Londonderry council parade

The events happened during the Tuesday night parade, which was the culmination of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s programme of Halloween events.

It led to the local DUP MLA being “inundated” with complaints, whilst a long-standing member of the band said politics should have “no place in Halloween festivities”.

All of this comes as the humanitarian situation in the Middle East continues to plummet, with the death toll, comprised mostly of Gazans, now approaching five figures (details below).

A veteran member of the Bready Ulster Scots Pipe Band gave an account of what happened at the Londonderry parade to the News Letter.

(The News Letter knows this person’s identity, but has agreed to keep them anonymous because they fear that speaking out will cause them problems at work.)

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About 25 band members had been participating in the roughly 700-strong parade.

It was the first time the pipe band had been involved in the annual march, and they had the honour of leading the procession.

The band member also told the News Letter that they believed their outfit was the only explicitly Protestant/unionist group out of the roughly 40 which took park.

A couple of the band’s younger members were selected to carry their banner: a roughly 2.5 metre (eight foot) one which simply named the band, showed its crest, and bore the logo of the British Heart Foundation (a member of the band having fallen ill with heart problems a few years ago).

But at the outset stewards told them the banner would not be allowed.

Initially the reason was unclear, but later the band was led to believe it was because it was seen as a trip hazard.

They furled up the banner, and the band continued on its way.

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As the parade went on, though, band members noticed Palestinian flags being displayed (at least three), and notified stewards.

The stewards then went and spoke to the flag bearers, who continued displaying them regardless.

“The city is supposed to be welcoming, the parade was family fun, a political-free event,” said the band member.

"It should not have a place in a parade like that.”

One of the flags appeared directly behind the band, making members look like they were supportive of its display.

"We kind of an apolitical band, we don’t really get involved in politics,” said the band member.

"I think it’s wrong. They can’t make one rule for one person, then rules for other people.

"That’s how it comes across. That’s why our band members are upset.

"It seemed like we were told to put ours away yet other people were allowed to have theirs – and theirs was basically contentious symbolism, while ours was just our band logo.

"Politics has no place in Halloween festivities.”

They added that, if someone had flown an Israeli flag at the parade, “the stewards would’ve been pretty quick to jump on and get them removed”.

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James Kee MBE of the Bready Ulster-Scots Development Association (which is separate from the pipe band, but shares a building with them) said: “In relation to the Palestinians flag, that’s a political statement and personally I think there’s a time and a place for that.

"It happens at different events, but that doesn’t make it right.”

And DUP MLA for Foyle Gary Middleton said: “I have been inundated with complaints between last night and this morning in relation to the 'Halloween Parade' yesterday evening.

"I am aware that my councillor colleagues have also received complaints. It relates to the flying of Palestinian flags on parade.

"Over the years there have been issues with flags along the route, however the flying of political flags on this parade is of serious concern…

"Events which are being organised by council must be inclusive and welcoming to all. Sadly, that appears not to have been the case on this parade.”

The council’s press office said: “[Our] Halloween Carnival Parade encourages all of its participants to refrain from carrying banners, flags and emblems.

"At the start of the parade, the Bready pipe band were asked not to carry a banner whilst participating in the parade.

"The group had hoped to use the banner to profile their charity during the parade, and council is currently liaising with them to apologise for not fully communicating the advisory on banners well in advance of the festival and to advise them that council, in recognising the importance of the charity they were hoping to profile, hopes to do something with them to help raise profile of their charity work and to continue to work with them going forward.

"[The council] encourages all of its participants to refrain from carrying banners, flags and emblems.

"The council has been informed that a group did display flags during the carnival parade.

"While council officers were not made aware of it at the time, the council are committed to following it up with the parade organisers and working with them and other partners going forward to ensure all participants are aware of the guidelines on banners and health and safety measures.

"Derry’s Halloween celebrations is a hugely positive event for the city and district and every effort is made to ensure everyone taking part and attending has an enjoyable experience.”

There have been claims from the Gazan health ministry that the death toll there has now well surpassed 8,000.

The UN said on Tuesday that in Gaza “thousands of children have been killed in airstrikes over the last three weeks, with many others missing and feared dead” while survivors “face a lifetime of trauma”.

The Israeli dead number about 1,400, plus over 200 are still being held as hostages.

According to the charity Save the Children, since the Hamas attack of October 7 which sparked this latest round of violence, “more than 3,257 children have been reported killed, including at least 3,195 in Gaza, 33 in the West Bank, and 29 in Israel, according to the Ministries of Health in Gaza and Israel respectively”.

This means “the number of children reported killed in Gaza in just three weeks has surpassed the annual number of children killed across the world's conflict zones since 2019”.