By Maurice Fitzmaurice
A man has been arrested and two teenagers dealt with by police following trouble at a Belfast city centre parade on Tuesday evening. There was also an incident at a parade in the Albertbridge Road area in the east of the city, the PSNI said in a statement issued on Wednesday morning. The city centre trouble flared as a Somme parade made its way along Donegall Place . A widely circulated video of the trouble shows a number of interactions between marchers, some youths who were lining the street and PSNI officers. During the trouble one marcher can be heard shouting 鈥渉old the lines鈥 as the parade proceeds towards Royal Avenue. The video shows one marcher or steward in a high viz vest grappling with one youth who is on the road in the parade鈥檚 path. A number of youths also appear to be detained by PSNI officers and as the parade approaches Royal Avenue a large number of police Land Rovers arrive at the scene and TSG officers appear along side community officers. In its statement, a PSNI spokesperson said: 鈥淎 23-year-old man was arrested in the Castle Street area of the city centre on suspicion of disorderly behaviour on Tuesday night, 1st July around 8.50pm. He remains in custody at this time. 鈥淢eanwhile, a community resolution notice was issued to a 19-year-old man shouting at a parade passing in the Royal Avenue area. A 16-year-old boy was cautioned for also shouting offensive slogans and running through the parade as it passed through Castle Place. 鈥淎 police officer was struck by a bottle to the head, in the area of the Newtownards Road, sustaining minor injury. Police were in the area of Albertbridge Road in east Belfast from 4.30pm to assist with traffic arrangements during the parade. At around 7.30pm, a small group of young people were noted acting disorderly in the Short Strand area, officers spoke to those involved with engagement from local representatives. No offences were detected. No issues were noted at parades in the Shankill and Sandy Row areas.鈥 In a statement issued on Tuesday night, TUV deputy leader Ron McDowell said the 鈥渓odge I have been a member of for many years came under both verbal abuse and physical harassment on Royal Avenue鈥. He added: 鈥淭onight, I raise a question regarding what appears to be a hierarchy of victims in Northern Ireland. This kind of intolerance is nothing new. Anyone who has been a member of the Loyal Orders for any length of time will have their own experiences to share. But tonight I ask, where is our equality compared to other sections of society? 鈥淭he PSNI historically make no arrests. Tonight they are commended as they reacted appropriately and three individuals were seen to be detained. When we are targeted by youths while parading in the city centre, we are generally expected to dismiss this as nothing more than 鈥榰nruly behaviour鈥. 鈥淚magine if Unionist politicians had said the same in Ballymena during the recent trouble. The media also shows a clear imbalance when reporting on Unionist communities. When it comes to crimes affecting migrant or LGBT individuals, their stories are rightly highlighted. Yet when it happens to us, it feels like no one cares. 鈥淐onsider the council鈥檚 response. When threats were made to the GAA, the council sprang into action and allocated thousands of pounds to their clubs for safeguarding measures. I make no criticism of those individual actions by the council, the PSNI, or the media, but I ask, where is the same support and protection for my identity? 鈥淲here is our policing and protection when we compare Londonderry鈥檚 republican riots with the events in Ballymena? Where is the support when Orange Halls, still among the most attacked buildings in Belfast, are vandalised time and again? Ignore our community, and you will have to deal with the fallout. Parity is not too much to ask.鈥 For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our politics newsletter here.