UDA parade and memorial to sectarian killers spark anger on Ormeau Road

A LOYALIST BAND PARADE along the Ormeau Road in south Belfast on Thursday evening commemorating notorious UDA/UFF sectarian killers Joe Bratty and Raymond Elder is to be raised with the PSNI, Parades Commission and the Housing Executive by Sinn Féin.

Bratty and Elder were notorious UDA gunmen linked to scores of killings, including involvement in the February 1992 Seán Graham bookies attack in which five Catholics were shot dead by the UDA. Seven others were seriously injured.

Bratty and Elder were executed by the IRA on 31 July 1994.*

Thursday’s parade was attended by up to 20 bands and was given the go-ahead without any consultation with the local community, Sinn Féin Councillor Deirdre Hargey said.

“It beggars belief that, given the high public attention recently given to the flags issue in the area and dramatically changed demographics, this parade was not deemed as sensitive by either the Parades Commission or the PSNI,” Councillor Hargey said.

“As I understand, it this parade was applied for by a ‘Cultural and Historical Society’. I must ask of the Parades Commission what consultation was carried out as to the rationale for this parade.

“I have been contacted by local residents who are shocked that this parade was given the go-ahead without restriction.

“The fact that the Ormeau Road was closed for an hour to facilitate this parade and reports that public money may have been used to fund a memorial to sectarian killers sends out a deeply insulting message to victims of loyalist murder gangs,” she said, referring to a memorial built with £11,000 from a Housing Executive fund to help communities move away from paramilitary symbols.

“I am also concerned to hear reports that the Orange Hall may have been used to facilitate this parade. I call on the Orange Order to clarify this,” Councillor Hargey added.

“Ballynafeigh / upper Ormeau is a vibrant community which has changed dramatically in demographics over recent years. This fact has been acknowledged by the PSNI. This needs to be acknowledged and accepted by other agencies, including the Parades Commission and other stakeholders.

 “Sinn Féin will be raising these issues with the PSNI, the Parades Commission and the Housing Executive.”

❑  IN a statement published in An Phoblacht on 4 August 1994 (see above), the IRA described Joe Bratty and Raymond Elder as “leading members of loyalist death squads widely acknowledged to have been centrally involved in the loyalist reign of terror” in Belfast City.

The IRA said Bratty was “the UDA’s commanding officer and also a member of the UDA’s Inner Council”. 

While Elder was on remand in Crumlin Road Prison, the IRA said, he had “openly boasted to republican prisoners about the [Seán Graham bookies] attack, giving details of how the killings were carried out”.