Northern Ireland

Provisional IRA's infamous 'D' Company unit hold Easter Rising parade along Falls Road

The 'D' Company parade made its way to the Garden of Remembrance on the Falls Road in west Belfast
The 'D' Company parade made its way to the Garden of Remembrance on the Falls Road in west Belfast The 'D' Company parade made its way to the Garden of Remembrance on the Falls Road in west Belfast

ONE of the Provisional IRA's most infamous units has held its annual Easter Rising parade in Belfast.

'D' Company, also known as 'The Dogs', was the IRA unit which covered the Falls Road area in the west of the city.

A crowd of a few hundred, including veteran republican Gerard Hodgins, gathered at the entrance to Barrack Street in the Lower Falls before the march made its way along Divis Street and the Falls Road.

Men dressed in paramilitary-style uniform and wearing berets and dark glasses paraded to music from accompanying flute bands.

'D' Company was once one of the most active Provisional IRA units
'D' Company was once one of the most active Provisional IRA units 'D' Company was once one of the most active Provisional IRA units

The parade, organised by the Falls Cultural Society, then turned into Albert Street and winded its way along several streets before emerging back onto the Falls Road where it concluded at the Garden of Remembrance, a place of commemoration for local republicans.

There was a rendition of Amhrán na bhFiann and the Proclamation was read before a decade of the rosary was said.

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A spokesperson for 'D' Company told the crowd: 'We have not yet achieved our freedom but we will not settle for anything less than a declaration of intent by the British government to withdraw lock, stock and barrel.'

Once led by the late Brendan 'the Dark' Hughes, 'D' Company was behind some of the worst atrocities of the Troubles, including Bloody Friday in 1972, when 19 car bombs were detonated in Belfast in the space of an hour, killing nine people and injuring 130.

Its members are also widely believed to have been responsible for the abduction and murder of Jean McConville, who was taken from her home in the Divis Flats by a gang in 1972.

The remains of the mother-of-ten were found on Shelling Hill beach in Co Louth in August 2003.

A crowd of a few hundred gathered for the annual 'D' Company parade to mark the Easter Rising
A crowd of a few hundred gathered for the annual 'D' Company parade to mark the Easter Rising A crowd of a few hundred gathered for the annual 'D' Company parade to mark the Easter Rising