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A Republican 12th July
by beano 
on 13 Jul 2005 at 00:51. Categories: Northern Ireland, PSNI, Sinn Fein, Orange Order / Other Marches Obviously jealous of what a great time the rest of us were having, a few republicans in Belfast decided to express their own culture today. Here's the highlights.
Ardoyne
Republican rioters "seriously hurt" one police officer and injured another 50 as the police were attacked with blast bombs as they were leaving the Ardoyne shops area following the return leg of the Orange Order parade to Ligoniel. They also injured a BBC journalist who was hit by a device that was hurled from the crowd of 'protestors'. According to the BBC, indicators point to the violence being organised by the Continuity IRA, presumably building on Sinn Fein/Provisional IRA successes at attracting negative publicity to the Twelfth.
The morning's parade had passed off in peace - perhaps the republican elements were already contemplating their attack at the return leg later (or were still in bed hungover from last night's bonfires 
). Nah, there were about 60 republicans, taking part in an illegal sit-down protest, who were removed by the police.
Follow up:
Gerry Adams obviously blamed the PSNI for the trouble (let's face it - with the Assembly closed down, his whole job is to twist the blame for republican riots round to the police). He said the Police had been reckless by not allowing republican "stewards" to "manage" the protestors. Nothing to do with the fact that Gerry was apparently one of those doused by the water cannon! 
SDLP MLA Alex Attwood (yes, a fellow Irish nationalist) was on hand as well though and gave a rather different account of events.
"Having stood on police lines all night I can say the police behaviour has been characterised by restraint and compliance with minimum force required,"
Alex Attwood, SDLP
Londonderry
About 10 petrol bombs were thrown at police officers in Londonderry after loyalist and republicans exchanged taunts. After the loyalists had left, there was a standoff between republicans and the police. A female police officer and 2 other people were injured in the disturbances.
Chief Superintendent Richard Russell had earlier praised the agreement reached between the Orange Order, the chamber of commerce and the Bogside residents group which helped the morning parade pass off peacefully, saying that most people wanted to see local agreements and accommodations on parades.
Co. Antrim
There was a day long stand-off as republican protestors blockaded a road with a lorry in Dunloy, refusing to allow Orangemen to drive from the Orange Hall to a church in the village to lay a wreath. Martin McGuinness was on hand to "urge the crowd to be cool, calm and collected". That's quite a task Martin was trying to accomplish - it was much to hot today for anyone to be cool, republican protestors are rarely (if ever) calm, but luckily the police were on hand to collect them from their seats on the road, clearing them out of the way one by one, including Sinn Fein Assembly member Phillip McGuigan (working for an Ireland of equals by protesting at Orange culture as you do).
Shortly after, the lorry that was blocking the road was driven out of the way too. The Orangemen then drove to the church, laid a wreath and sang a hymn, just 6 hours behind schedule. The protestors claimed the Orangemen were planning an gathering outside the church which would have contravened a Parades Commission ruling, but the Orangemen said they were abiding by the law and just wanted to lay a wreath (hence travelling by car to the church rather than marching).
Police later confirmed that the residents had held an illegal protest while Orangemen complied with the Parades Commission ruling.
Why?
So what is it that makes republicans thirst for violence on the Twelfth? Is it a straightforward distaste for Protestant existance in their pure Aryan Gaelic motherland? Is it something as sinister as a deliberate attempt to tar the July celebrations with negative publicity in a hope to turn world opinion against the Orange Order? Maybe its simple jealousy at them dirty prods having a day out or boredom from being stuck in the house on a beautiful, sunny, July day. Who knows?
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the report simply stated that "trouble erupted in north Belfast last night following a controversial Orange march through a Catholic area" with some pictures of 14 year olds throwing bottles at police men (perhaps we could lay on a 'spide pride' march, or put a gluebag on top of a flag pole to keep them occupied in future). It made no mention of the broader context, the fact that a major political figure threatened the country with this violence unless a genocidal terrorist was exempted from the process of law, that Gerry Adams can still threaten and implement violence to achieve his political goals (the destruction of the generally accepted principle that people have the right to peacefully express and celebrate their culture) or point out that these protests routinely use unprovoked violence against a peaceful procession ,i.e. the still fully armed Republican movement is still prepared use violence to get its way. I would say the report was presented in such a light as to put the onus of blame on the Orange men. Violent reaction to someone just because their culture or beliefs are on display is called bigotry and I would question the B.B.C.s (at least in England) take on these, all too routine, incidents. The Sinn Fein Parties influence goes far and beyond opinions and politics , it exerts a disastrous and degrading effect on its own people, it uses violence to control communities , until this strangle hold is broken constitutional politics will have precious little integrity, It also (by its very nature) excludes any hope of mutual tolerance of cultural events (a compromise we would all settle for, during St. Pats you can march around my bedroom with a tri-colour for all I care) (I do object to provo-lover marches- like the one S.F. want to see St.Pats turned into ). In an atmosphere free of S.F., I also would like to think some compromise regarding paramilitary displays (on both sides). Would be reached quite quickly. This would improve the quality of life, and cultural dignity, of everybody. The biggest problem with the 12th is S.F.'s confrontational 'hate orientated' politics, take this malign cancer out of Catholic communities and I think they would soon see that an Orange parade does not (in itself) have the power, or need, to hurt anyone. Why is their not more condemnation of the Republican totalitarian ruling elite in the wider press? Any objective record (the reason we pay licence fees, I believe) must concede that Sinn Fein are a violent and oppressive movement, as that’s an objective fact. Unless of course those in power at the beeb let their own opinions influence the character of the information they provide..........
"In agreement with police, 15 protesters were allowed to stand on a wall overlooking the route as the Orangemen passed holding aloft a banner saying 'make sectarianism history'. "
What?
These three places were subject to ilegal activites by republicans.
I seen for myself the violence in Londonderry, when police allowed hundreds of protesters to stand so close to the orangemen on the final few yeards of the parade route.
The psni's main concern was to ensure that the parade went off peacefully and the orangemen were allowed to parade the route santioned by the parades commission ruling.
The riots in Ardoyne last night were not just an orchestrated attempt to express intolerance at a display of Orange culture, nor an example of a community's complete inability to abide by normal standards of decency. The PSNI today said that republican...
The blast bombs were thrown in a bid kill psni officers...
I'm just waiting to see how many arrests come out viewing the psni camera evidence????
Police have released images of men they want to question in relation to the Ardoyne riots which took place on 12th July when an Orange parade was attacked by a republican mob. The images were taken from CCTV footage of the assault in which 100 police o...
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