A SMALL group of loyalists marched to Belfast City Hall on Saturday to mark the 12th anniversary of the start of the flag protests.
Before, protesters gathered on Durham Street near Sandy Row in opposition to the demolition of the Boyne Bridge, which is making way for the redevelopment of the area around the new Grand Central Station. Protestors claim that King William of Orange crossed the old bridge at this spot on his way to the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.
Last week diggers moved onto the site, which is now closed off with hoardings, to dismantle the bridge which dates back to 1936.
Posters advertising the protests had gone up in loyalist areas of the city ahead of the weekend, however, in the city centre, a couple of dozen protestors gathered outside the gates of City Hall to mark the occasion when in December 2012 Belfast councillors voted to reduce the number of days that the Union Flag is permitted to fly over City Hall. As the small group of loyalists stood outside, only metres away in the grounds of City Hall shoppers mingled enjoying the sights and sounds of the Christmas market.
