Bands probe urged

9/3/2008 -

NEWRY and Mourne Council is to write to the Parades Commission, calling for the South Down Defenders’ annual band competition on Newry’s Belfast road to be investigated.

The decision to contact the commission was taken following complaints by Sinn Fein councillors Brendan Curran and Charlie Casey at Tuesday’s council meeting. The contentious band competition, a fundraising event organised by Newry based South Down Defenders Flute Band has been held in the city for the past 29 years.

The two-hour-long parade’s original route from Basin Walk, up the Belfast Road and Windsor Hill was banned 10 years ago. It now begins at Ardmore Police Station, taking in Windsor Hill, Sandy Street and the Belfast Road.

But Newry Sinn Fein councillor Brendan Curran claimed local residents have had enough of the annual ‘kick-the-Pope’ event and wanted it banned.

“They are sick of loyalist bands representing the UVF and UFF paramilitaries marching around in circles until they are dizzy and fall down drunk,” he said.

The councillors claimed that a recent doortodoor survey carried out in the area had shown 92 per cent of residents wanted an end to the event.


THE UUP’s Danny Kennedy accused Mr Curran of launching a bitter sectarian rant, more suited to the political gutter than a council chamber.

“If I was living in a nationalist area, and Sinn Fein came to my door doing a survey, I wonder what I would feel obliged to say,” he quipped. “The wider Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist communities in Newry have a right to express themselves and to celebrate their culture.

“This kind of attitude shows that these councillors believe there is no place for them in the Newry area.” Kilkeel councillor Willie Burns said Mr Curran’s comments should be regarded as sinister and disturbing by the Protestant minority in Newry.

“There is no paramilitary involvement or falling down drunk,” he insisted. “This competition is a family event that I myself bring my children and grandchildren to watch. “If it was what councillor Curran has described, it would certainly not be somewhere I would take children.

“This is an insult to the culture of the Protestant community.” UKIP councillor Henry Reilly demanded any correspondence sent to the Parades Commission would explicitly state it was against his wishes.

A spokesperson for the South Down Defenders has described criticisms of the event as completely outrageous. He said local residents looked forward to the competition and came out to enjoy the fun. “This is an important date in our calender with members from through-out Newry joining together to provide a family event, ” he said.