CNN.com - Northern Irish flashpoint parade re-routed

BELFAST (Reuters) -- Northern Ireland's volatile marching season came under fresh strain when authorities re-routed a disputed Protestant parade from a flashpoint Roman Catholic district in the city.

The pro-British Protestant Apprentice Boys group had asked the independent Parades Commission to allow a march through the Catholic Lower Ormeau Road district of Belfast this Saturday before travelling on to their main parade later in Londonderry.

But the watchdog re-routed this year's parade saying it would be desirable if a "limited" march could be held before the end of the year. It said a long-term agreement between Catholic residents and the Apprentice Boys was possible.

"The commission ... believes that it would be desirable for a limited, orderly Apprentice Boys parade to take place along the Lower Ormeau Road in a peaceful and lawful atmosphere at some time before the end of this year," it said in a statement.

Protestant parades by groups such as the Apprentice Boys and the Orange Order, during the so-called marching season, generally mark the date of a historic Protestant victory over Catholics.

The parades are considered offensive triumphalism by many of Northern Ireland's Catholics.

"There have been many talks going on ... between the Apprentice Boys of Derry and the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community Catholic residents group (LOCC). But the view of the commission was at this stage more work needed to be done," said Tony Holland, head of the Parades Commission.

Gerard Rice, head of the LOCC, hailed the decision as the only one possible and said all planned demonstrations by Catholics would now be called off.

But the head of the Apprentice Boys, Alastair Simpson was bitterly disappointed at the decision and hoped a parade would occur before the end of the year.

Other talks between a Catholic residents group in Derry and the Apprentice Boys ahead of Saturday's planned parade were also due to reconvene on Wednesday.

A string of Protestant parades have been banned from Catholic areas of Belfast.

Last year there were ugly scenes as riot police cleared Catholic protestors off the road in Belfast in order to force the parade through, triggering unrest in Derry.

The commission said decisions on parades were invariably seen as "defeat" for one side and "victory" for another and so it has appointed two people to broker an agreement on future parades in the period to December 2002.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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