County Grand. Master of the Orange Order, Stuart Brooker has condemned the violent scenes in north Belfast during Monday’s contentious Twelfth of July parade near Ardoyne, saying such violence would never occur in Fermanagh.

“This violence is not on”, Mr. Brooker tells The Impartial Reporter, blaming “a mixture of paramilitaries and youths” for injuring 24 police officers and generated scenes that were “shown across the world.” “We in the Orange Order are all being tarred with the same brush,” Mr. Brooker continues, adding that the immediate problem in North Belfast would be solved if the parade was allowed to pass.

This was the third year that the Parades Commission has determined that the Orangemen were allowed to walk past the Ardoyne shops on the Crumlin Road on the outgoing route of the Twelfth of July parade, but were not allowed to return along the same way.

A 16-year-old girl was hit by a car and trapped underneath during riotous scenes in the interface area on Monday evening. A police officer who was helping to rescue her was hit in the face by a bottle and lost a tooth. Another had his ear almost severed off by a piece of masonry that was thrown by loyalists. In total 24 officers were injured; 15 of whom remained on duty.

Mr. Brooker had returned from “a fantastic day” at the Twelfth demonstration in Kesh, where his speech focused on the lengths to which Fermanagh Orangeism has gone to in recent years to build relations with the Catholic community, only to be “really dismayed” by the scenes on the evening news.

“This violence is not on. I totally support the Grand Master Edward Stevenson who said on Monday that violence is not only wrong but is counterproductive,” Mr. Brooker continues. “Violence is not helping anyone.” “Orangeism is doing well. It’s okay here in rural Fermanagh; we have developed an understanding. We have been working hard in our community and reaching out as never before. If a parade was blocked here we would be annoyed but we would not resort to violence. I wouldn’t envisage any situation down here where people would be going down that road,” states Mr. Brooker, who became County Grand Master last year.

He adds that he was pleased to see lots of new faces at this year’s event in Kesh. “There were tourists and people from the rest of the UK visiting family. It was great to see. The Twelfth is being seen more as an event now than a parade.” Asked what is the solution to the annual scenes of violence, Mr. Brooker replies: “I don’t know, it’s a difficult situation.

“There’s a great deal of intransigence among the nationalist and republican side in North Belfast. It’s a pity that a little bit of tolerance can’t be shown and allow them to proceed up the route for all the time it would take.” He continues: “After that, it’s time for people in the immediate area to have discussions, not those who come in for the day to cause trouble.” Fermanagh priest Father Gary Donegan agrees that “riot tourists” are to blame for the annual tensions at the Crumlin Road interface, where a security gate has been closed every evening at 7.30pm since the Parades Commission ruling in 2013.

Parish Priest at Holy Cross rectory in Ardoyne, the Newtownbutler man agrees with Mr. Brooker that such scenes would never happen in Fermanagh.

“My role here in Belfast of brokering between the two sides each year is a very different scene from my memories as a child. You cannot compare Belfast to Kesh or Ballinamallard; it’s a whole different animal,” he states.

Fr. Gary gave the last rights to the 16-year-old girl who was knocked down by a car during the violence on Monday and attended a prayer vigil for her on Tuesday evening. He continues to try to quell tensions following the incident for which a 61-year-old man appeared in court yesterday (Wednesday), charged with two counts of attempted murder after it is alleged his car hit the girl and other pedestrians.

He concludes: “You just keep plodding away because you know the focus will shift away from us and it’s we who live here who will be left to pick up the pieces.

“When I’m walking these streets every evening there are no riot tourists here. We can do without them 363 days of the year and we can do without them on the twelfth and thirteenth of July too.”