The real facts regarding Friday night in Belfast city centre are that many thousands of decent law-abiding Protestants peacefully expressed their abhorrence and outrage at the disgraceful decision by the Parades Commission to permit a republican rabble to glorify IRA terrorism through the heart of our capital city. The many thousands of Protestants in attendance included families, women, children, the elderly and disabled, including a blind man. The aggressive police tactics in a so-called democracy were disgraceful. The police hemmed in a small number of approximately 50 Protestants in North Street and did nothing while republicans walked past hurling golf balls, bricks, bottles and other missiles at the small group of Protestants. Could you imagine the outrage if Protestant marchers were armed with such missiles and were hurling them whilst parading? Why were the republicans permitted by the police to walk freely along Peter’s Hill fully armed with missiles and not prevented from getting anywhere near the area? Why were the republicans able to walk past Protestant homes when the Orange Order was not permitted to walk a main arterial route home past shops that were closed on the 12th July up to Ligoniel? Why did the police not prevent a large crowd of republicans attacking the small Protestant crowd with missiles at Peter’s Hill when it was peacefully returning up the Shankill Road? Why is Gerry Kelly not even challenged in the media when he said that no republicans were involved in violence? Why did police not adopt the same aggressive tactics, including kettling and water cannon tactics, on republican rioters on Friday night? The fact is that both republican parades in Belfast and Castlederg were solely to glorify IRA terrorism and should have been completely banned. The Chief Constable and the Parades Commission are weak and both so afraid of republicans that they will appease them at every turn while Protestants face the full rigour of the law. The Chief Constable and his senior colleagues should remember that the IRA continue to target members of the security forces whilst republicans continue to glorify in such action. Why do business and retail leaders in Belfast city centre only criticise law-abiding traditional Protestant parades and are silent regarding republicans walking through Belfast? The great and good in society appear to forget too easily that the IRA bombed the heart out of Belfast city centre and many of our towns and cities for over 30 years and still murder members of the police, army and prison service. The reality is that there is no so-called peace process, only an appeasement process to republicans and a different application of the law for Protestants who receive the full rigour of the law whilst republicans are treated with a softly, softly, kid glove approach. We also have a largely biased media who do not report the facts and fail to interrogate republicans in the same manner as Protestants. Let us have the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Norman Boyd, former MLA, Anti-Agreement Unionist
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 21:17:28 +0000
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