Face of Nation : The PSNI has defended its approach to a flute band which wore Parachute Regiment insignia during an Apprentice Boys parade in Londonderry.
Members of Clydevalley Flute Band from Larne wore the symbol with the letter ‘F’ on their shirts during Saturday’s parade. The Apprentice Boys described the police’s actions as “heavy handed”. Assistant Chief Constable Alan Todd said the response was “proportionate, responsible and constructive”.
He said he viewed the day as a successful police operation. “Given the context of the space, the symbols and the history, I don’t think anybody who has looked at that carefully is going to argue that that had the potential to raise tension,” he said.
On Sunday, police came under attack for a second night in the city. Police said a patrol was targeted with a petrol bomb and paint at about 18:35 BST.
No one was injured but a police vehicle was damaged. The parades commission said it had received a number of complaints regarding the Apprentice Boys parade.
A spokesperson for the commission said: “There is a longstanding local accommodation for parades in Derry/Londonderry with the result that the Commission is not required to adjudicate on them, nor to impose conditions on them.
“This resolution of parading issues through dialogue is promoted by the Commission as fundamental to improved community relations.” ACC Todd said that the vast majority of people who attended the parade did so within the law and respectfully.
He said that police engaged with one band in the interests of keeping the peace but were unable secure their cooperation.
Thirteen people were shot dead when members of the Army’s Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators on Bloody Sunday in Derry in 1972. An ex-paratrooper, known as Soldier F, is facing prosecution for two murders.
