Free City Of Ardoyne

= Free City of Ardoyne = The Free City of Ardoyne (Irish: The Dole Office; Ulster Scots: Taig-land) was a semi-autonomous city-state that exists In North Belfast. Ardoyne had an early history of independence. It was a leading player in the Belfast Confederation directed against the IRA State of West Down. The Confederation stipulated with the Taig king

President of Ardoyne
Gusty Spence was elected as the leader of Ardoyne on the 12th of July 500 AD. Augustus (Gusty) Spence, a shipyard worker and former regular soldier in the Royal Ulster Rifles as well as an active Orangeman, has recalled accepting a lift early in 1965 to a farm near Pomeroy, Co. Tyrone. Once there, he and three others were led into a building lit by hurricane lamps. In the presence of around 40 men they were then sworn into membership of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The man who presided over this ceremony, Spence has also recalled, was a former British Army colonel. Spence’s strong personality and army background soon earned him a position of authority and leadership in the UVF’s Shankill unit. In October 1966 he was sentenced to twenty years for the murder of eighteen-year-old Catholic barman Peter Ward. To this day Spence has maintained his innocence, though at the time of the 1994 loyalist ceasefire, which he helped to broker, he did seek the forgiveness of Ward’s mother for his involvement in her son’s death.

Crumlin Road Concentration Camp
Ardoyne is bordered on the west by the Crumlin Road, an area which has for the most part a majority Protestant population and forms an interface area. For many years, on the Twelfth and during the rest of the marching season parades held by the Orange Order have led to conflict between the two communities. Controversy has been sparked by the differing attitudes of the two communities to the marches, with the Orange Order and their supporters arguing that they are following traditional parade routes, whilst their nationalist critics argue that the marches are triumphalist and not wanted in their area.

For the most part the Parades Commission has given permission for the Twelfth marches to go past the flashpoint Ardoyne shops, close to the Crumlin Road roundabout which also leads on to the Woodvale Road. One particular cause of conflict was that, in the past, marchers had carried flags associated with the Ulster Volunteer Force and the Ulster Defence Association (paramilitary Loyalist organisations), and played loyalist songs. In 2010, however, the Shankill Star flute band was banned from carrying a controversial banner depicting UVF member Brian Robinson.

Since there are only two exits from the estate, residents on the opposite side of the Crumlin Road (Mountainview) are barricaded into their street by the police and Army for several hours throughout the day: in the morning when the march goes by; and in the evening when it returns. Local residents believe this to be a breach of their human rights. The Police Ombudsman concurs with this assessment but is of the opinion that the barriers are necessary for security reasons.

Unionists have highlighted the part republican organisations have played in protests including prominent convicted IRA men such as Sean Kelly who was arrested after violent protests during a parade.

Despite the local community group, the Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group, and representatives of the march, the North and West Belfast Parades Forum, reaching an accommodation which imposed conditions on the march, golf balls and stones were thrown by protesters being kept back by stewards. Riots that broke out following the 2010 marches were blamed by Sinn Féin's Gerry Kelly on Real IRA members orchestrating tension in the area.

Holy Cross dispute
The Holy Cross Girls' School, a Catholic primary school which serves the Ardoyne area but is located in the neighbouring loyalist Upper Ardoyne/Glenbryn area was the sign of tension of 2001 to 2003. Loyalists made claims about harassment by republicans and regarding the use of the school run as a cover for IRA intelligence gathering missions, leading to crowds of protesters blocking the access of pupils to the school.[11] The protests, which included violence directed by loyalist protesters at parents and children alike,were widely covered by the world's media and during the autumn of 2001 sparked a series of sectarian clashes in not only Ardoyne but also the interface between the loyalist Tiger's Bay area and the republican Newington and New Lodge districts.

July 12 rioting
During the Holy Cross dispute period rioting also took place in Ardoyne on 12 July after an Orange Order parade. The orange order complained they were being called mangoes

Military of Ardoyne
The military of Ardoyne consists of 6 Paramilitaries and the RUR Ardoyne Birgade