Protestant March Sparks Clash Between Catholics, Belfast Police
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BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Catholics and police battled in the streets Friday after more than 100,000 Protestants marched in triumph throughout the British-ruled province.
Catholics were outraged that police forcibly cleared the way for marchers from the Orange Order to pass through two Catholic enclaves Thursday and Friday. The Orange Order, the province’s dominant Protestant fraternal group, marches each July to commemorate its historic victories over Catholics.
Police and army armored vehicles saturated the Catholic Lower Ormeau section of south Belfast all day Friday, long after about 200 Orangemen and four fife-and-drum bands had come and gone.
Even moderate Catholics said the experience made them less inclined to compromise in multi-party peace talks with Protestants that are slated to resume Tuesday in Belfast.
“When you’re being raped, do you try to reach accommodation with the person that rapes you?” asked Alasdair MacDonnell, a moderate Catholic politician and doctor in south Belfast. MacDonnell belongs to the Social Democratic and Labor Party, the main Catholic party in the talks.
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