A CONTROVERSIAL loyalist band has switched the date of a disputed parade in a nationalist village after residents applied to hold a 'civil rights' march on the same day. Ballymaconnelly Sons of Conquerors Flute Band, which is based near Rasharkin in Co Antrim, had applied to hold its annual parade through the village on Friday, August 16. However, parade organisers withdrew the application yesterday and submitted a fresh bid to hold the march a week later on August 23. The move came just days after Rasharkin Residents' Collective applied to the Parades Commission to hold a 'civil rights' march through the village on the same date.
The start time for both parades was originally just 15 minutes apart with the loyalist parade scheduled to begin at 7.30pm and the nationalist march planned for 7.45pm.
Residents are bitterly opposed to the annual loyalist parade which is expected to attract up to 45 loyalist bands to the small country village.
The 'civil rights' march is expected to include up to 200 participants and 500 supporters.
Although organised by Rasharkin Residents' Collective, The Irish News understands that recently formed protest group Communities Against Sectarian Parades (CASP) was expected to take part in the event bringing members into the village from across the north.
Rasharkin Residents' Collective spokesman Sean Hanna, who is also chairman of CASP, says Ballymaconnelly Sons of Conquerors had broken with tradition by moving the parade to an alternative date in August.
The residents' spokesman said the band had set a precedent. "In the past they have told us they could not change the date of the parade and now they have. "They have completely written their tradition off - they are back to this being their very first parade as far as I'm concerned. "If they can shift [the date] on this Friday why not shift it completely, reroute it or change it? "They always wanted it on the same route, same date and at the same time and now that does not matter any more."
Ballymoney DUP mayor John Finlay said he believed Ballymaconnelly band took the decision because it wanted a "contentious-free parade". "They want to keep their tradition going and they want to avoid trouble," he said.
The Parades Commission is expected to consider both applications on August 13.
Connla Young