Unionists defend erection of Orange arch

By The Newsroom
Published 13th Jun 2018, 13:57 BST
Updated 19th Jun 2018, 16:44 BST
The arch was erected in the Antrim Road area of Glengormley.The arch was erected in the Antrim Road area of Glengormley.
The arch was erected in the Antrim Road area of Glengormley.
Unionist representatives have defended the raising of an Orange arch in Co Antrim after dissident republicans branded the move '˜illegal and sectarian'.

Members of Carnmoney District LOL 25 erected their arch in Glengormley last night ahead of this year’s marching season.

The arch has been placed in the Antrim Road area since 1983 with a section of the carriageway closed to traffic to facilitate its construction.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

While the arch was being raised, activists from the Belfast branch of dissident republican political party Saoradh took to social media to slam the event.

Posting on Facebook, a party spokesperson alleged: “Having been contacted by local residents, Saoradh Béal Feirste condemn the annual display of sectarian bigotry via an illegal Orange arch in the centre of Glengormley being built this evening.”

Claiming the demographics of Glengormley are changing to the extent that the immediate area is mainly nationalist, the spokesperson continued the display should be removed immediately “as it simply exists in order to try and intimidate the majority community in the local area”.

Glengormley DUP representative Phillip Brett has called on Saoradh to withdraw their statement.