physical force

Nothing Has Changed

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Jeff Perks’s 1979 linotype “The Training Ground” serves as the inspiration for a 1996 mural in Glenfada Park, Derry. A sash has been added to the policeman on the left, and the British Army soldier on the right has become an RUC officer in riot gear. (The whole of Perks’s piece was reproduced in Belfast.)

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Copyright © 1996 Peter Moloney
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No Consent, No Parade

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Parading was the central on-the-ground issue of the post-Agreement years (BBC). Resistance to Orange Order parades marching through CNR areas was led by local groups: in Derry, by the Bogside Residents’ Group, in Portadown, by the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, and in lower Ormeau by Lower Ormeau Residents Action Group. In each case, residents were appealing directly to the local lodges and to the police. (The Parades Commission would be established in 1998.)

In 1995, there was a three-day stand-off on the Gavraghy Road that resulted in a silent march without bands (CAIN). The police initially re-routed the 1996 march but reversed the decision at the last minute, citing the threat of loyalist violence, and forced residents off the street in order to accommodate the parade.

Rossville Street, Bogside, Derry

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Copyright © 1996 Peter Moloney
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