It is pity that the Andersonstown News did not speak to any of the organisers of the rally in Bank Square this Sunday, November 2, hosted by Sinn Féin in conjunction with the victims of British state murder, before it published an editorial opinion in last week’s paper.

Let me restate the problem our city and our society faces. The British army record in Ireland is one of wholesale repression, curfews, collusion, torture and murder.

The UDR – now called the RIR – is a discredited force with a long record of violence in our country. Even the British government official archives brand it “subversive”.

The British Ministry of Defence plans to take over Belfast city centre and turn it into a military circus with three British army regiments, including the RIR/UDR; a saluting stand; a military band; and a fighter jet fly-over. The British MoD plan is unprecedented, excessive and offensive.

That is why Sinn Féin, together with victims of British state murder, will assemble in Bank Square, beside Kelly’s Cellars this Sunday to protest.

No-one voted for the British army march.

SDLP spokesman Alex Attwood has falsely claimed that “a decision was taken by the Council to have a parade in this city – as democrats we have to respect that”. The British MoD has made the same false claim.

Belfast City Council did not vote for the British army march. The Council was asked to allocate a grant to the British army for a civic reception in the Waterfront Hall. 45 per cent of councillors voted against that. After arranging the civic reception and a service in St Anne’s Cathedral, the British MoD then applied to the Parades Commission to have a march claiming that the Council was the march organiser. Belfast City Council issued a statement refuting that claim.

The problem remains: the British MoD proposes to hold a British army march which no-one in Belfast voted for.

There have been many events and marches into Belfast city centre. Some of these are commemorative, cultural or political. None of the previous events has any comparison to the British Ministry of Defence plans. The last time an event like this occurred was more than 60 years ago when the British army marched through Belfast city centre at the end of the Second World War. The British MoD plans for Belfast also have few comparisons in England. Most councils in England have not had any civic receptions or town centre parades. Many British army regiments have had homecoming events on their own parade grounds, within their army barracks.

So why propose a different, high-profile military circus in a city divided down the middle on the issue?  This is the second largest city in Ireland, not a catwalk for the British army.

The British Ministry of Defence plans are high-risk. The British army has always brought disruption to Belfast.

Our rally will be peaceful, lawful and dignified. Our protest will be silent and solemn. We have no plan to physically disrupt the British MoD events. We have deliberately arranged our assembly point at Bank Square, beside Kelly’s Cellars, to be a substantial distance from the British army and others. We have also carefully picked a route and protest within line of sight of the British army march, but without crossing paths or colliding. The Parades Commission and others have acknowledged that.

The timing and location of the rally and protest has been informed by our engagement with others. For any public figure to suggest that the families of British state violence are potential troublemakers is a slur that I utterly reject.

The British Secretary of State is hosting yet another ‘homecoming reception’ at Hillsborough Castle the following week. Similar events are now being planned in Larne and Ballymena. You have to wonder how many civic receptions does it take to make a ‘homecoming’.

The RIR Chaplain, David Latimer, expressed objection to his regiment’s return being “hijacked by politicians”.  He declared his preference for “one centrally organised religious service” and warned against “rushing into a fanfare of parades and celebration”. The British MoD has disregarded that caution, just like our own objections.

Families who have loved ones in the British army will be glad to be reunited. The civic reception and service is for them. 

Our rally and protest is not against those families. It’s for the hundreds of families who cannot be reunited because of the British army’s role in Ireland. Now the same fate is being visited on families in Iraq and Afghanistan. The people responsible for this appalling vista are the British government. They must face up to the truth.

n Bobby Storey is the Belfast Chair of Sinn Féin. See also Mála Poist on page 28