A loyalist club has applied to parade along the lower Ormeau Road next month, asking the Parades Commission to allow it to cross Ormeau Bridge. The Belfast Walker Club, a branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry, lodged the request for November 7.

The proposed route would begin at Ballynafeigh Orange Hall, proceed along the Ormeau Road, cross Ormeau Bridge, and continue to Donegall Pass. The application is for 80 participants, down from 100 last year. No bands or supporters are listed in this year’s request.

The lower Ormeau Road has been a flashpoint for parading disputes since the 1992 Sean Graham bookmakers massacre, in which the UDA killed five people. The Drumcree dispute later heightened tensions. Loyal order parades have been prevented from crossing Ormeau Bridge since 1999 due to community concerns.

Last year, the Parades Commission allowed the parade to proceed but prohibited it from crossing the bridge and from entering part of the Ormeau Road. The determination noted the strain on community relations in the area.

Sinn Féin MLA Deirdre Hargey has called on the Parades Commission to restrict the march. She said residents of the lower Ormeau Road have lived peacefully for 27 years and that allowing the parade would reopen painful wounds. Hargey cited recent incidents such as an attack on the memorial to the bookmakers victims and a mural in east Belfast depicting scenes from the massacre.

Hargey said the community is concerned and that the Parades Commission must maintain restrictions on the route. She said Sinn Féin will support the Lower Ormeau community.

The application comes days after the Court of Appeal dismissed a legal challenge by Garvaghy Road residents against a loyalist parade. Loyalist activist Jamie Bryson said traditional routes would be marched again. An unnotified parade took place on the Shankill Road on Monday night, with bandsmen carrying a banner reading “When injustice becomes law resistance becomes duty.” The Parades Commission said it had no record of any notification for that procession.