Councillor Christopher Stalford

DUP Councillor for Laganbank, Christopher Stalford has condemned the republican thugs from the lower Ormeau Road who launched a vicious and totally unprovoked assault on Orangemen returning home from the annual Twelfth celebrations. As the parade passed the around the Stranmillis embankment to go across the Ormeau Bridge it was pelted with rocks, bottles and cans. Several people were hit. The DUP Councillor claimed that the incident showed the true nature of the republican objectors to parades in the area and called on Gerard Rice to condemn those responsible for the attack.

Speaking today Christopher Stalford said:

“Once again the fascist bully-boys of the republican community are found at their work – assaulting innocent people, hurling sectarian abuse and physically attacking women and children for no other reason than they were Protestants returning home from the Twelfth. Those responsible for this attack, whom numbered around 150 individuals, are beneath contempt and will be condemned by all right thinking people everywhere. It is a miracle someone wasn’t seriously hurt in this incident.

The incident also raises questions about the policing situation in the area. Why were 150 tricolour waving hoods allowed to gather in such close proximity to a parade route? Are the PSNI so naïve that they could not see what was being planned, namely a vicious sectarian ambush?

Gerard Rice, the republican agitator against parades in the area also has serious questions to answer. Will he publicly condemn this wanton sectarian violence in an open and unequivocal way or does his loyalty lie with those who would use violence to stop women and children returning home from the Twelfth field? The public have a right to know where this self-appointed community representative stands”, said the DUP Councillor.