Loyalist paramilitary bands must not be allowed to intimidate Rasharkin residents again

I'll be running these briefs from Northern Ireland as I receive them from Daithi McKay while I continue the Oread Daily's time out until Sept. 1. After that I will simply include them in the regular Oread Daily. Daithí is the Sinn Féin councilor on Ballymoney Borough Council - Bann Valley elected in 2005.


Rasharkin Sinn Féin Councillor, Daithí McKay, has challenged Mervyn Storey to prove his assertion that the majority of people living in Rasharkin have no problem with the Ballymaconnelly Parade.

Cllr McKay said:

“What residents in Rasharkin witnessed here tonight was nothing more than a sectarian triumphalist display from those participating in the parade. We saw numerous paramilitary flags, bands named after dead UVF members, the Sash played nearly 20 times in front of the protestors and comments were also made by members of a band from Tyrone toward protestors regarding ‘No Pope’ - so this clearly shows people the calibre of the bands marching through Rasharkin tonight.

“Moneydig band, who were involved in an assault on a Rasharkin resident last year, were also allowed to march through the village again, and again they were not taken to task for carrying loyalist paramilitary flags.

“Supporters of the bands also took tricolours into the middle of the street and burned them, and even the stewards provided by Ballymaconnelly couldn’t prevent the mob they had invited into the village from acting like dangerous bigots.

“The ignorance of members of the PSNI when residents voiced their concerns has also been noted, and their numbers will all be passed on to the Police Ombudsman tomorrow morning.

“Mervyn Storey said tonight that the majority of people living in Rasharkin have no problem with this sectarian coat-trailing exercise. Well I would ask him to back up his allegations. At the moment the Residents Association are carrying out a survey of residents of the village, which I expect will show that the majority of residents are opposed to the parade. If Cllr Storey, as expected, rejects these results then why not get the Parades Commission or a neutral group to distribute questionnaires to residents for a second opinion on the matter. As far as I’m concerned its about time he put his money where his mouth is.”