Thursday, December 22, 2005
North's parades cost PSNI over €13m
It was revealed today by the PSNI that they spent the equivalent of more than €13m this year on policing Orange Order and other parades.The Orange march which sparked rioting in Ardoyne in north Belfast on 12 July cost almost €1 million in police costs alone.
PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde said the money could be better used to fund other policing needs and priorities.
He appealed to parade organisers to consider this and engage in dialogue.
Ian Paisley Junior of the DUP said, apparently with a straight face, that the figures reflected the threat posed to Orangemen when they marched. (Nonsense!)
Alex Attwood of the SDLP said the costs should bring the Orange Order to its senses.
What is clear from today's announcement from the PSNI is that these marches, particularly the ones from the Orange Order, are a menace to society and disastrous to the North's economy.
Paisley Junior is kidding himself if he thinks that the figures are caused by those who are against the march. The facts and figures speak for themselves. Almost €1m was spent on the Orange Order riots in July where over 80 officers were injured thanks to the Orange Order. Madness!
I admire Alex Attwood for stating that these costs should bring the Orange Order to their senses, but I don't think the Orange Order have any sense. The little baby pictured above is Caleb Moore who sustained a fractured skull when rioters stoned the car the toddler was travelling in at the Orange Order's Whiterock parade. Will that deter the Orange Order from marching next year though? Hell no!
These parades are a disgrace and are just an excuse for a sectarian orgy of mayhem and destruction.
I don't think there's any chance of the Orange Order seeing sense but I think there's still a chance that the people of the North might.
Only they can stop these sectarian parades! How many toddlers must have their lives put at risk, and how much taxpayer's money must be poured down the drain, before people open their eyes to this massive problem in Ireland's north?
# posted by United Irelander @ 6:21 PM 
© 2008 United Irelander.
