Statement by TUV deputy leader and Court Councillor Ron McDowell:
“Today’s decision by the Parades Commission to ban Orangemen from Ballysillan from parading down the Crumlin Road, a main arterial route in Belfast, is reprehensible.
“Whatever way one seeks to dress it up; the bottom line is that the Commission bowed to the threat of violence. As they say in their decision, the “risk of serious public disorder” was a key determining factor when it came to this diktat.
“This sends entirely the wrong message to society at large. The ability to create disorder should not be a key determining factor in whether or not one is permitted to exercise rights which in the rest of the United Kingdom are taken for granted.
“The Commission illustrates that it is unfit for purpose by repeatedly attacking those who applied for the parade while having nothing adverse to say about those who would instigate the serious public disorder if they don’t get what they want.
“Sending out a message that might is right when it comes to such matters is both disgraceful and dangerous.
“This decision comes at a time when Irish language signs are proposed for erection in parts of Belfast where they’re this minimal demand for them and considerable opposition. While one community’s culture is set to be imposed where it isn’t wanted 365 days a year, another community cannot celebrate theirs for a few minutes on a main road. Such double standards do nothing to build community relations and, in the long term, will only create problems and foster resentment.
“You cannot legislate to restrict one community’s culture at any time of the year while imposing another community’s culture all year round without consequences. There is an urgent need on the part of the powers that be to recognise this obvious reality.”