Dissident republican Easter parade held in Londonderry

A dissident republican parade has taken place in Londonderry.

The annual Easter Monday parade in Derry marks the Easter Rising against British rule in Dublin in 1916.

The parade started in the Central Drive area of Creggan before making its way to the City Cemetery.

A police helicopter monitored the procession overhead but while there was no visible presence on the ground, the PSNI have said they had “evidence-gathering resources” in place.

There was a colour party of people wearing face coverings, sunglasses and paramilitary-style dress, carrying the Irish flag and republican flags.

A crowd of a couple of hundred people followed the parade to the cemetery, including a number of young people with their faces covered, some carrying petrol bombs and planks of wood.

The event, billed as the “Unfinished Revolution National Easter Commemoration”, concluded with speeches at the cemetery.

A small fire was started in the middle of the road outside some shops in the Creggan area.

The dissident republican event has sparked scenes of violence in previous years.

The organisers of the parade, the National Republican Commemoration Committee, had applied to the Parades Commission for permission for the Easter Monday event.

In its determination allowing the march to proceed, the commission explicitly prohibited the wearing of paramilitary-style clothes and flags linked to proscribed organisations.

In a statement the PSNI said that from the beginning of the parade to when it dispersed, “a number of participants were observed to be wearing paramilitary-style uniforms, believed to be an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000, and a breach of the Parades Commission determination”.

Area Commander of Derry City and Strabane, Chief Superintendent Gillian Kearney, said: “The outcomes of our investigations from previous years illustrates that where offences occur, we will investigate.

“As this is now a live investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment any further.”