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Protestants light bonfires ahead of tense 12th

Posted on: Monday, 11 July 2005, 21:21 CDT

BELFAST (Reuters) - Protestants lit huge bonfires across Northern Ireland on Tuesday ahead of a day of parades to mark historic victories over Roman Catholics -- in one of the most tense atmospheres in the province for years.

Internal feuding among Protestant "loyalists" who support the province's ties to Britain and an attack on a Catholic home in Belfast at the weekend have heightened tensions ahead of the "Twelfth," the peak of Northern Ireland's summer marching season.

In a Protestant area of East Belfast, hundreds cheered as a 15 meter high tower topped by an Irish flag and banners of rival pro-British factions was set alight.

The Orange Order will hold parades across the province on Tuesday to mark William of Orange's defeat of deposed Catholic King James II at the Battle of the Boyne on July 12, 1690 that cemented Protestant ascendancy on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Most parades are uncontroversial, but a few which pass near Catholic neighborhoods are bitterly resented and the "Twelfth" celebrations invariably sharpen sectarian divisions between the pro-British Protestant majority and pro-Irish Catholic minority.

Although the violence that marked three decades of sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland has largely ended, following paramilitary ceasefires and a 1998 peace deal, the marching season often sparks conflict.

Last year, Catholics and Protestants hurled stones and bottles at each other during one march.

Sinn Fein, the main Catholic party in the province, criticized a ruling by the Parades Commission, set up by Britain in 1997 to rule on contentious marches, to allow the Orangemen to march through the Catholic Ardoyne area of Belfast.

"The Parades Commission have created an extremely dangerous situation in Ardoyne," said Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams.

"The Orange Order have been rewarded for refusing to engage in dialogue with local residents and will be allowed to parade through an area where the sole purpose is to cause offence."

Orangemen, who march to the accompaniment of pipes, drums and accordions, say the parade follows the only available route for them to return home. Ardoyne residents say it is an anti-Catholic display designed to intimidate them.

Sinn Fein said former Irish Republican Army prisoners -- released under the 1998 Good Friday Agreement -- would not marshal Ardoyne protesters after Shankill bomber Sean Kelly was re-arrested for violating the terms of his release.

Source: REUTERS

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