NICOLA Sturgeon has told Holyrood that her government is to consider setting up a Northern Ireland style Parades Commission to help restrict the routes and numbers of Orange marches.
The First Minister said she would ask the Justice Secretary Keith Brown to examine the prospect of setting up such a body, which was established in Belfast after a series of violent disputes over the routes of Orange marches in Ulster in the 1990s.
Her comments were made at First Minister's Questions today and follow 15,000 members of the Orange Order and their supporters taking part in some 50 Orange walks in Glasgow last Saturday, three of which went past Catholic churches.
Drumcree in Portadown, Northern Ireland, featured clashes between Orange marchers and the police.
SNP MSP James Dornan, who has campaigned against sectarianism, asked the First Minister if she would consider the introduction of a Parades Commission following anti Catholic singing at some of the recent marches.
The Glasgow Cathcart MSP said the singing had caused "considerable distress" to members of the Catholic parishes along the routes of the marches as well as to the wider community.
He condemned "disgraceful anti-Catholic singing during the Orange Order marches throughout the city of Glasgow".
He said: "At least three of their routes included marching past Roman Catholic churches, causing a great deal of distress and concern to the members of those parishes and the wider Church in Scotland.
"Given these events, First Minister, would you consider the creation of a Parades Commission, similar to what already happens in Northern Ireland, to take a non-partisan and independent look at the number and route of such parades.
"Anyone old enough to remember the annual battles at Drumcree [in Northern Ireland] will verify the difference the Commission has made in Northern Ireland."
Dornan said there were "shameful reports of Glasgow city councillors receiving death threats when any possible restrictions of Orange parades were discussed".
He said he had "no doubt that just as in Northern Ireland, a Parades Commission would go a long way towards taking some of the heat out of the discussion of parades".
The First Minister said: "With regard to the specific proposal of a Parades Commission, yes I am happy that the government give that further consideration.
"I have already asked the Justice Secretary to consider what further action could be taken to maintain the important balance of rights between peaceful procession and freedom of speech but also the ability of people to go about their daily lives without feeling unsafe and being free from harassment. So I will ask the Justice Secretary to consider the possible creation of a Parades Commission."
She added: "I know that members will join me in unequivocally condemning all instances of anti-Catholic bigotry, which we have seen on our streets in recent times.
"There is no place for it in a modern Scotland and we must all show zero tolerance towards it.
"But in terms of the specific proposal, I can confirm that we will give that consideration and we will report back to Parliament further in due course."
The Parades Commission is a quasi-judicial non-departmental public body responsible for placing restrictions on any parades in Northern Ireland it deems contentious or offensive. It is composed of seven members, all of whom are appointed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
Restrictions it can impose include a prohibition on music being played, re-routing parades to avoid contentious areas, or banning certain participants based on previous breaches of its determinations.
Its rulings are usually enforced by either parade stewards or the police, though there are disputes as to whether this is done to the letter of the law in certain areas. The Commission acts under the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998.
Parade organisers and participants are liable to arrest and prosecution for breaching any of the Commission's rulings, although no-one has been charged since the Commission was established in 1998.
The Commission was set up after the large-scale civil strife that followed the Drumcree conflict over an Orange Order parade in Portadown.
However, the Commission has come under strong criticism from the Orange Order in Northern Ireland. The Grand Lodge of the Order has a policy of non-engagement with the Commission, although some private and district lodges, particularly those with contentious parades, have agreed to talk to it.
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