New Parading Terms of Reference long Overdue - Copeland
UUP Parades spokesman Assembly candidate for East Belfast Michael Copeland today welcomed the scope of the terms of reference for a strategic review of parading which were published by Minister Goggins last week.
Mr Copeland said however that they were long overdue and only served to highlight the lack of a current framework and terms of reference of the current Parades Commission and their abysmal failure to properly address the parading issue.
In a statement Mr Copeland said,
“Mr Goggins has said that the published terms of reference were an opportunity to take a fresh look at the issue of Parading. While this is welcome it is about 10 years too late.
Most of the newly published terms of reference are nothing more than a common sense approach to Parading. It begs the obvious question what on earth has shaped government thinking and policy decisions on Parading to date?
The Parades Commission, within this ideas black hole, has done enormous damage and wrought community divisions because of their non-sensical, overtly political and divisive attitude to parading. I am of the view that the terms of reference should at least include a provision, subject to proper debate, to scrap this failed entity as a way of showing that this strategic review is more than just hollow words and is in fact a concerted attempt to undo the damage done to date.
While I welcome this strategic review I have to say it will be an uphill struggle for government to convince the Loyal Orders that they are acting in good faith given their previous record to date.”