Religious group told to change location of Foyle Pride protest

A religious group that planned to protest at the end point of the Foyle Pride parade has been told to find another location.

United Christian Witness (UCW) had applied to locate preachers at the exact point the Pride parade ended. Live music and festivities are due to take place in the area immediately after the parade ends.

A spokesperson for the Parades Commission said the decision comes after the group caused issues in that spot during last year's parade.

“Following concerns raised after last year’s Foyle Pride parade the Commission has considered it necessary and proportionate to issue a determination restricting the location of this year’s notified protest by ‘United Christian Witness’,” they said. “In the view of the Commission this is commensurate with the protest achieving its objective of expressing opposition to the parade.

“The Commission has considered that should the protest take place at the notified location there is a substantial risk of public disorder. The Commission has determined, therefore, that the protest must be located on the footpath outside Richmond Chambers in the Diamond, must not follow the parade and should disperse by 3pm."

Ross Holmes of UCW, said the group wanted to protest at the point the parade ended to reach ‘as many people as possible in the time that we were there’.

“We're displeased that we've been moved because we didn't do anything wrong last year but because of the threat of public disorder the parades commission have put restrictions upon us. “

He added: "There was no disorder last year, there were lots of people vocally displaying their opposition to our presence at the event, but there were marshals and PSNI in place that kept everything in order.”

However, the Parades Commission said in its response to UCW’s application that protesters didn’t conduct themselves appropriately last year.

“Representation was received from a number of sources immediately following the 2022 parade, expressing significant concerns about the conduct of the protestors. The behaviour complained of was viewed as unnecessarily provocative and risked escalating into public disorder and a breach of the peace.

“Concerns have been raised about the location of the protest in Guildhall Square. This is the point of dispersal of the parade and last year resulted in protestors coming into direct contact with parade participants and festival go-ers. Representations were received confirming this aggravated the risk of public disorder.”