N. Ireland Rivals Reach Deal to Ease Tensions Over Parade

Protestant marchers and Roman Catholic protesters struck a compromise Monday designed to prevent clashes this weekend in Londonderry, the crucible of Northern Ireland’s conflict.

The announcement by the Apprentice Boys marchers and the Bogside Residents Group protesters eased fears that the Protestants’ annual parade will trigger violence Saturday as it has in previous years. The parade will be permitted, but with few marchers allowed near the town’s main Catholic neighborhood.

Irish Republican Army dissidents, meanwhile, claimed responsibility for a car bombing Saturday that injured 35 people in the predominantly Protestant town of Banbridge, 22 miles southwest of Belfast, the provincial capital. The group, called “Real IRA” by local media, also said it ignited fires at three Belfast businesses Sunday.

The dissidents oppose the IRA’s July 1997 cease-fire.

In Londonderry, 70 miles northwest of Belfast, the march compromise fueled hopes of a peaceful resolution to the province’s “marching season,” when more than 100,000 Protestants march across this British-ruled province.

“The accommodation reached today shows what can result when the will to reach agreement exists,” said Donncha MacNiallais, a leader of the Catholic protesters.

“A small but significant step has been taken for the better future of the city and for all our communities this weekend,” Apprentice Boys leader Alistair Simpson said.

Normally, as many as 20,000 Apprentice Boys and band members parade near the main Catholic Bogside neighborhood.

But under the agreement, only 13 Protestant marchers will enter the Diamond--the center of the walled downtown--where they will lay wreaths of remembrance to those killed in the World Wars.

The number 13 is symbolic of the number of teenage Protestant apprentices in Londonderry trade guilds who slammed the city’s gates in the face of an approaching Catholic army in 1688.

Northern Ireland’s “troubles” began in August 1969 after Bogside Catholics stoned the Londonderry marchers in the Diamond. This triggered rioting that led the British government to deploy troops.