Parades in Northern Ireland facts for kids

Parades are an important part of the culture of Northern Ireland. Although the majority of parades are held by Ulster Protestant, unionist or Ulster loyalist groups, Irish nationalist, republican and non-political groups also parade. The Parades Commission exists to settle disputes about controversial parades, and although not all parading groups recognise the Commission's authority, its decisions are legally binding.

Unionist parades

The majority of parades in Northern Ireland (nearly 70% in 2003/4) are organised by Protestant and/or unionist groups, leading some people to view attempts to restrict parades as an attack on Protestant and/or unionist culture. Parades typically take place on Saturdays, which means that participants and spectators do not have to take time off work, and avoid parading on Sunday, which some Protestants believe should only be spent on purely religious activities. The only exceptions to this are the Twelfth of July parades, which are held on the same date each year, (unless the 12th falls on a Sunday, in which case it is postponed to Monday the 13th), and church parades, which are held on Sunday.

Orange Institution

The Orange Institution holds hundreds of parades throughout Northern Ireland every year. The biggest of these are usually on the twelfth of July ('The Twelfth'), in commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne. Individual lodges also parade at various times of the year, particularly leading up to the Twelfth. Parades in memory of the dead of World War I, particularly the 36th (Ulster) Division at the Battle of the Somme, are held in July and November. Junior lodges from Armagh, South Tyrone and Fermanagh parade annually at the end of May. On the last Saturday in October, Reformation Day is celebrated with the year's last major Orange parades. In Belfast, these proceed to Saint Anne's Cathedral for a church service.

Apprentice Boys

Members of the Royal Black Institution parade in Lisburn on 'Black Saturday', 2007.

The Apprentice Boys of Derry exist in commemoration of the siege of Derry in the seventeenth century. The Boys' biggest celebration is held in Derry on the Saturday nearest 12 August each year, in commemoration of the lifting of the siege. They also parade on the Saturday nearest 18 December, in commemoration of the original apprentice boys shutting the gates of the town against King James II's troops, and at Easter. Most Apprentice Boys' parades are held in the city of Derry.

Royal Black Institution

The main parade of the Royal Black Institution is held on the last Saturday of August and is known as Last or Black Saturday. This was originally held on 12 August in commemoration of the end of the siege of Derry, but in the 1950s the date of the event was moved. Local parades are held in Belfast in the two weeks beforehand. Its other major event is the 'sham fight' at Scarva on 13 July, in which an actor playing William of Orange ritually defeats an actor playing James II, thus re-enacting the victory of the Williamite forces at the Battle of the Boyne. There is also a 12 August Battle of Newtownbutler celebration parade held in Fermanagh. It was previously held on the same date as the 'Remembering the Siege of Derry', but has now been moved to the Saturday before in an attempt to attract larger crowds and more participants.

Salvation Army

As in other countries, the Salvation Army in Northern Ireland sometimes parades with brass bands. Salvation Army parades are generally not seen as controversial or sectarian, and their parades have not led to any problems.

Bands

As well as accompanying the above organisations on their parades, many marching bands also hold their own parades, often as a fund-raising activity. These are often combined with band competitions—which other bands in the United Kingdom are invited to compete in—sometimes amounting to over 100 bands for a single parade. Band parades are more regular than loyal order parades, with numerous parades every weekend from early April until the end of September.

Nationalist parades

Parades are much less common among nationalist or republican communities. According to the Parades Commission, less than 5% of parades in Northern Ireland are nationalist/republican.

Ancient Order of Hibernians

Compared to most Protestant organisations the Ancient Order of Hibernians parade relatively infrequently, their main parades being on Saint Patrick's Day, at Easter, and on Lady Day. At various points during the Troubles, Hibernians offered to cease parading if Protestant groups did the same.

Irish National Foresters

The Irish National Foresters are a nationalist fraternal organisation. Although they are open to Irish people of any religion, the majority of their members are Catholics. Their main parading date is the Sunday closest to 1 August.

Republican parades

Northern Ireland's biggest annual republican parade takes place in August, during Féile an Phobail. This began as a protest against internment without trial and evolved into a festival that celebrates Gaelic and republican culture. Republican parades are also held in January to commemorate Bloody Sunday, and at Easter to commemorate the 1916 Easter Rising. There is a Republican March every year to commemorate the anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike. The parade is attended by Republican figures such as Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams. Republican parades are attended by Irish Republican bands that come from Scotland, England and Ireland, especially the march in August to commemorate the anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike.

Civil rights marches

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, groups of civil activists such as the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) and People's Democracy attempted to use the protest march tactics of contemporary protest movements elsewhere in the world to draw attention to political, social and economic discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland. The civil rights marches and the reaction to them were a major contributing factor to the outbreak of The Troubles, due largely to heavy-handed policing.

Easter

Easter is a major parading time for both communities, and is often considered to be the start of the year's 'marching season'. A number of republican groups also commemorate the Easter Rising. According to Neil Jarman, Protestants began parading at Easter in the 1930s to counter republican parading, but "few people are aware of this, and Easter parades are now an accepted part of the loyalist tradition".

Non-sectarian parades

A number of parades are held in Northern Ireland, especially in Belfast, which are not associated with any particular religious tradition. They are subject to the same laws and regulations as other parades.

Lord Mayor's parade

Several cities in Northern Ireland hold Lord Mayor's parades marking the end of the mayor's term in office. These are usually carnival-type events that evolved from the more stately affairs held in many cities in the United Kingdom since the Middle Ages. The Belfast parade takes place in May; the 2007 theme was 'Love and Friendship'.

Belfast Pride 2018, passing Belfast City Hall

Belfast Pride

An LGBT+ Pride parade has been held in Belfast each year since the early 1990s. As Northern Ireland has high levels of fundamentalist Christianity, it is often controversial. In 2005 a number of Christian groups called for it to be banned, but the Parades Commission ruled that it could go ahead. It is sometimes described as one of the few genuinely cross-community events in Northern Ireland.

Remembrance Sunday parades

War memorial parades are mainly attended by the unionist population of Northern Ireland, but recently nationalists have started to get involved. Some war memorial parades are run by Protestant organisations such as the Orange Order. However those on Remembrance Sunday (the Sunday closest to 11 November) are organised by local councils or the British Legion and commemorate war dead of all religious backgrounds. Remembrance Sunday parades usually consist of a march by veterans or local military units or both to a Remembrance Sunday ceremony, usually held at a war memorial, and often another march to a church service.

St. Patrick's Day parades

There are many parades on St. Patrick's Day throughout Northern Ireland. Although the parade celebrates the Patron Saint's stature as the Patron Saint of Ireland, it has been recognised that St. Patrick is the patron saint of the island of Ireland, and the patron saint of both Nationalists and Unionists throughout Ireland. In recent years, loyal orders such as the Orange Order and the Apprentice Boys of Derry have held parades to mark St. Patrick's day.

Youth organisations

Some youth organisations, such as the Boys' Brigade, take part in or organise parades and drills throughout the calendar.

Dates of major parades

Number of parades

According to the Parades Commission, a total of 3405 parades (not counting funerals) were held in Northern Ireland in 2007. The following table groups these parades by type and sponsoring organisation.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland uses different statistics, and recorded a total of 2863 parades in 2007. Of these, 2270 were loyalist, 144 nationalist, and 449 neither. Four of these were illegal and of these three were nationalist. 45 parades were re-routed, of which all but two (one nationalist, one other) were loyalist, and 78 parades had other conditions imposed, of which 70 were loyalist, 7 nationalist and one neither. Disorder occurred at just ten parades, of which nine were loyalist and one nationalist. This is a significant decline from previous years; in 2005 disorder was recorded at 34 parades.