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4 August 2016

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Bar on anti-internment parade going to Belfast City Centre is ‘wrong’, says Sinn Féin MP

● Paul Maskey

AN ANTI-INTERNMENT PARADE from west Belfast should not have been prevented by the Parades Commission from concluding in Belfast City Centre this weekend, local Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey has said.

Describing the decision as “wrong”, the MP said that city centres are shared spaces capable of facilitating parades from all traditions.

The Parades Commission has confirmed it has received a request to review its decision.

The parade is organised by a group calling itself the Anti-Internment League. Up to 5,000 people could attend, organisers say.

They had planned to march from Andersonstown in west Belfast and rally at Belfast City Hall in the City Centre, concluding at 1:30pm. The Parades Commission, however, has issued an order preventing the parade from going beyond the junction of Barrack Street and Divis Street.

It has defended its decision saying there was a “lack of assurances” from the organisers about the proposed march and a “refusal to engage with the commission.”

“The commission has addressed in its decision the disproportionate, serious and prolonged impacts the parade had upon the human rights of others.

“It has reflected the adverse impacts of the parade upon community relations and community life, and the extremely high risks of public disorder.”

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