Loyal Orders Won't Take Lectures from Maskey after Dungiven
30 August 2012
Responding to Sinn Fein/IRA MP Paul Maskey’s call for the Orange Order to re-route their Ulster Day parade away from Donegall Street Jim Allister said:
“Paul Maskey clearly doesn’t do irony. He takes it upon himself to lecture the Loyal Orders about respect for a place of worship while completely ignoring the fact that at a parade organised by his party in Dungiven earlier this month Republican bands not only played music outside the Church of Ireland but stopped to do so!
“There was no apology from Sinn Fein for this behaviour. In fact a video celebrating the event – which was attended by Martin McGuinness and addressed by Agriculture Minister O’Neill – takes pride of place on the website of Maskey’s party.
“It is also interesting to note that while the PSNI were out in force at Saturday’s Black demonstration in Belfast, Sinn Fein reached an agreement with the police that they would stay out of Dungiven during the Hunger Strike parade. They were also permitted by the police to carry replica firearms through the streets of the village - in clear breech of Parades Commission guidelines on demonstrations. Footage posted online also clearly shows marchers dressed in paramilitary clothing, again something which is in defiance of Parades Commission guidelines.
“Maskey needs to sort out the beam in his own eye before picking at any motes which he believes may be in the eye of the Orange Order.
“It will be apparent to all objective people that this is part of an orchestrated campaign by Sinn Fein against the Loyal Orders. Gerry Adams is on record as boasting that Sinn Fein “put the work in” to creating problems with Loyal Order parades. Having created problems on the Ormeau and Newtownards roads it is evident that they are intent on creating an issue on Donegall Street, thus closing one of the last remaining access points to the city centre”.
