By Amanda Ferguson
BELFAST (Reuters) – The chief executive of Northern Ireland’s Orange Order does not sense any appetite among pro-British unionists to turn the July 12 peak of the annual marching season violent despite “a huge amount of frustration and anger” over Brexit.
Tens of thousands of Northern Irish unionists take part in parades ever year, both large and small, with the main gathering each July 12 celebrating the 1690 victory at the Battle of the Boyne by Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James of England and Scotland.
They have often been the spark for sectarian tensions and street violence, even after a 1998 peace deal, and are being carefully watched this year after anger over the trade barriers introduced by the Brexit Northern Ireland protocol contributed to more than a week of riots earlier this year.
“We’re not picking up any particular appetite. The 12th parades are the 12th parades, there’s always a wee bit of increased tension in some areas but we don’t have any particular concerns,” Orange Order Chief Executive Iain Carlisle told Reuters in an interview.
“Whilst there is frustration and we appreciate that, I don’t think it’s something that’s going to manifest itself around our events… Our message to people is the protocol is a political problem, it needs to be solved politically. Wrecking your own areas will not fix the protocol.”
(Reporting Amanda Ferguson, writing by Padraic Halpin; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
