Calls to reroute loyalist marches passing Catholic churches after protests

Calls have been made to reroute loyalist marches which pass Catholic churches after police diverted a walk away from a protest.

Glasgow councillors want action to prevent a repeat of the scenes that occurred over the weekend of November 10 when Police Scotland decided to reroute an Apprentice Boys of Derry parade.

The procession’s planned route passed St Alphonsus Catholic Church on London Road, Calton, where protesters had gathered nearby.

There had been calls in advance for the council to redirect the parade. Tensions around marches passing Catholic churches rose after a priest was spat on in 2018.

Following Sunday’s disruption, Cllr Anthony Carroll, Greens, said the council and Police Scotland should request marches be rerouted away from “religious establishments, in particular Catholic churches, as a standard practice”.

However, a council spokesman said it had received “no reports that would justify imposing conditions on the procession” under legislation, which is set nationally.

Cllr Carroll, who represents the Dennistoun ward, said: “I’m disappointed that yet again we see loyalist marches pass Catholic churches as part of their route.

“While I want to see greater powers for councils on processions, rather than just receive notification of one taking place with little community input, I do believe that the council and Police Scotland must request to reroute loyalist marches away from religious establishments, in particular Catholic churches, as a standard practice.”

On social media, Cllr Christina Cannon, SNP, said: “It’s my opinion that these marches should have been rerouted well before today and I’ll be advocating for that should they propose this route again.

“People should be free to enter their place of worship without intimidation.”

The council spokesman said: “There is a presumption in law that processions can take place, unless there is a reason to intervene — and these reasons are quite narrowly defined in the statutory framework.

“Ultimately, a local authority requires credible evidence in order to take such a step — usually be way of intelligence from the police about a risk of disorder or a threat to public safety.

“We can only ever look at events on a case-by-case basis, and, in this case, we received no reports that would justify imposing conditions on the procession under the legislation.”

Brunch restaurant Scran decided to close due to Sunday’s incident. The owner reported an “air of menace” in the area. London Road was closed around the restaurant, between Bain Street and Kent Street.

After the parade, the Bridgeton branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry said it had taken “every step required by legislation and codes of conduct to ensure the event would proceed peacefully and respectfully”.

In a statement, it claimed protesters “inflamed tensions” and there is an “atmosphere of hostility towards the unionist, Protestant and loyalist communities”.

“It is unacceptable that we are now in a situation where we cannot hold a peaceful procession without interference,” the statement added.

The branch called for a review of the event and a commitment from the council and Police Scotland to ensure “future events are allowed to proceed without obstruction, disruption of interference.”

Call It Out, which campaigns against anti-Catholic bigotry and anti-Irish racism in Scotland, wanted the march to be rerouted before Sunday. It asked people to join them to “stand in opposition” to the parade outside St Alphonsus and St Mary’s churches.

Afterwards, the group said: “Glasgow’s Irish Catholic community and other principled anti-racists successfully forced an anti-Catholic march to be rerouted away from St Alphonsus church.

“This is a massive victory against those who have sought to intimidate and harass our community for much too long.

“The outrageous disruption to community life was caused by the refusal of Glasgow City Council to uphold Sheriff Reid’s 2019 judgement to use the powers it has to reroute bigoted marches to protect communities and worshippers.”