Two planned Irish republican parades in Glasgow city centre will go ahead as planned despite rioting during a protest last Friday.
The council decided after police advice not to overturn the decision to permit the parades.
Police said that they would still need the same amount of officers on standby at the locations in case people turned up anyway.
The decision follows violent scenes last Friday in Govan as loyalist protesters disrupted an Irish Unity march by the James Connolly Flute Band.
Police in riot gear had to keep factions separate and bins were set alight.
Following the trouble the police provided updated advice on the two upcoming parades yesterday to the City Council.
Annemarie O'Donnell, Glasgow City Council Chief Executive, met last night and today with the organisers of the two parades and with police to discus the latest advice before the council reached a decision.
Ms O’Donnell, said: “The scenes we saw in Govan on Friday were a disgrace and they must not be repeated. However the options open to Glasgow City Council and Police Scotland are limited, both by the law – people’s right to march and protest - and by circumstance.
READ MORE: Council allow two Irish republican parades to go ahead after Govan riot
“At this time, I am satisfied that severely restricting or prohibiting Saturday’s processions would not reduce the likelihood of further trouble and might place additional burdens on Police Scotland as they manage an already difficult situation. I understand that people may not agree with this decision, but after my discussions with the police I am convinced this presents the best chance of keeping people safe.
“Ultimately the responsibility for ensuring that Saturday’s marches are safe lies with the organisers and the protesters. They must commit themselves to behave in a way which will not further stretch the patience of their fellow Glaswegians.”
The two marches that were planned for Saturday are the Cairde na hEireann calton Republicans from Millroad Street in Calton to the La Pasionaria monument in Clyde Street leaving at 1.30pm.
Assistant Chief Constable Bernard Higgins said: “Following the disorder last Friday, we provided further information at the request of Glasgow City Council about two processions planned for Saturday, 7 September.
READ MORE: Republican group promise 'fightback' against loyalists after Govan riots
“Our view is that if the processions were banned, some form of protest and disorder could still take place and the policing profile for Saturday would therefore be similar.
“If the processions go ahead it would allow us to continue to engage with known organisers to ensure balanced rights were upheld and to police the events under the conditions agreed by the council.
“I need to appeal to people who plan on taking part in processions or counter protests to do so peacefully.
“We will have a range of policing resources, including a range of specialist assets, in attendance and will take any necessary action against anyone causing disruption.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel