N. IRELAND: ORANGEMEN HOLD SERIES OF PEACEFUL PARADES

(13 Jul 1998) English/Nat Orangemen across Northern Ireland held a series of peaceful parades on Monday, following a week of violence in the buildup to their biggest holiday. A controversial Orange Order parade through the Catholic Lower Ormeau area of Belfast went ahead despite local protests and a hoax bomb threat. Other marches in Drumcree and Belfast were also trouble free - a relief for many in the province following Sunday's arson attack which killed three Catholic boys. The Orange Order continued to defy calls for them to cancel their parades and went ahead with the controversial march in the Lower Ormeau area of Belfast. Their route took them along the Ormeau Road which passes through a predominantly Catholic area of the city. Local residents were against the march, but let it go ahead nonetheless. They protested by lining the route in silence, holding black flags as a reminder of the three Catholic boys killed in an arson attack on Sunday. Catholic residents in the lower Ormeau area felt the Parades Commission should have banned this march in response. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I mean why come down this road, why? There's no need for them down this road. They can go another route. But they're not bothering anybody going another route, yes they're bothering us. So what? Who are we?" SUPER CAPTION: Ilene Gargan, protester Monday's march was delayed for an hour after a warning that bombs had been planted in the area close to the Orange Hall. The warning is believed to have come from the Irish National Liberation Army, a fringe republican group who refused to observe the ceasefire. Army specialists exploded two suspicious packages before the march went ahead. There was a strong security presence in the area throughout the march, though it passed peacefully. Community leaders felt the restraint they had shown should be a source of pride. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Today for me, fills me with no sense of joy but it does fulfil me with a great sense of pride. I knew that even despite all that we have seen in places this week, not just from the Orange Order but from those people who claim to set out the laws and sit on peace commissions and still capitulate to might. If we stand like this for future protests, like I know we will, we will break them. The world's press has seen them, yet again, for what they are. They watched and listened last night as they had their 12th July bonfires and parties in every street when anybody else with any sensitivity would have cancelled them." SUPER CAPTION: Gerard Rice, Lower Ormeau Concerned Community group Local residents dismissed plans to disrupt the march and instead decided to hold their demonstration as a mark of respect after the murder of the three children in County Antrim. The 12th of July is the biggest holiday on the Orange calendar, celebrating the defeat of the Catholic King James II by the Protestant William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. The marches were put back until Monday this year because the holiday fell on Sunday. Traditional parties and bonfires went ahead as planned on Sunday, despite the tragic events earlier in the day. This was just one of the parties held by Protestants in Belfast. The standoff in Drumcree has been the cause of much of the recent violence. In spite of calls for an end to the confrontation, Portadown Orangemen decided to march anyway on Monday. Traditionally they pass along the predominantly Catholic Garvaghy Road, but this year the marchers and accompanying bands were barred from doing so. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...