Northern Ireland Security Minister Ian Pearson has promised
to look into how the PSNI polices Parades Commission determinations,
following a meeting this week with a delegation of senior
Belfast Orangemen and Unionist MLAs.
The meeting was called to highlight what the Orange Order
has described as its "seriously deteriorating" relationship
with the East Belfast police Commander following his handling
of alleged breaches of Parades Commission determinations last
July.
The MLAs on the delegation who included Sir Reg Empey, Robin
Newton and Michael Copeland, told the Minister that the PSNI's
ineptitude and pettiness was undermining the efforts of the
Orange Order and other groups to reduce community tensions
in East Belfast.
Mr Pearson was also warned of the likelihood of Sinn Fein
stepping up its hate campaign against Loyal Order parades
in 2005 to try and divert attention away from its current
political difficulties arising from the IRA's Northern Bank
raid.
Commenting on the meeting, Dawson Bailie, the Orange Order's
Belfast County Grand Master, said: "We left the Minister
in no doubt that the Parades Commission was now so badly damaged
by its crass determinations over the years that nothing short
of disbandment would be acceptable."
The delegation also expressed concerns that any attempt to
include parade supporters in proposed new parading legislation
would be viewed as a further attempt to curtail the Protestant
community's freedom to express its cultural heritage, and
that such proposals could have serious ramifications.
Describing Monday's meeting as "constructive",
the Orange Order's East Belfast District Master Raymond Spiers
said: "We invited Mr Pearson to experience Orange culture
at first hand and got him to agree to respond to the various
issues we raised, including the way the PSNI enforces parade
determinations and how it investigates any alleged breaches."
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