An Apprentice Boys parade in Glasgow had to be re-routed on Sunday after protesters blocked it from travelling past a Catholic church.
Glasgow City Council had faced criticism after allowing the Apprentice Boys of Derry in Scotland Remembrance Day parade to march past St Alphonsus’ church at the same time as Sunday Mass.
The church had been the subject of a previous incident in 2018 where its parish priest had been spat on after an altercation due to an Orange march in the area.
Protesters, some masked, gathered outside the church on Sunday morning while police were also in attendance, with the blockade reportedly preventing Massgoers from attending the service.
The protesters held banners outside the church where the parade was due to go past which said: “No anti-Catholic marches past Catholic churches”.
The Apprentice Boys of Derry said the parade had gone ahead after “extensive discussions with relevant agencies”.
“Our procession was a lawful and peaceful act of remembrance, yet we were prevented from completing it due to the interference of violent republican elements,” Chairman Brother John Carmichael of ABOD said.
“We had worked diligently with Glasgow City Council and other agencies to ensure the event would proceed smoothly. Today’s actions by Police Scotland are deeply troubling, and it is difficult to understand how the situation was allowed to escalate in this manner.”
A spokesperson for Call It Out, a campaign group set up to protest against “anti-Catholic” incidents in Scotland, said the parade was an “attempt to disrupt and intimidate the community”.
“The purpose of this anti-Catholic march was to disrupt and intimidate the community - they were not prevented from marching, they were simply asked to use an alternative route,” the group said.
“None of this needed to happen, Glasgow City Council could have re-routed it weeks ago. The police were out of their depths. This should never be allowed to happen again.”
Glasgow City Council has said it had not imposed any restrictions or re-routing of the parade as it had not received any credible reports of public disorder.
Police Scotland said it attended the parade and that a “proportionate policing plan” was put in place.
