The Ulster People’s Forum have said they will continue to support peaceful protests in support of the Union flag at Belfast City Hall, and that it is up to protesters if they wish to continue.
The statement issued on Thursday evening follows a statement from over 40 community groups, political parties and churches in east Belfast who called for an end to the violence associated with some protests.
The Ulster People’s Forum (UPF) was set up to represent flag protesters.
More than 100 PSNI officers have been injured policing protests across Northern Ireland.
The protests have been going on since December 3 when Belfast City Council voted to fly the flag on 20 statutory days, instead of all year round which had been the policy up until that point.
Traders and the hospitality industry have pleaded for the protests to stop as they say it has reduced their trade by between 30 to 50 per cent.
The Ulster People’s Forum (UPF) said it will support the next major flag protest set to take place at Belfast City Hall on Saturday,
“The UPF wish to stress that we fully support peaceful protests and will back the protestors without reservation,” a spokesman said in a statement.
“We reaffirm our commitment to non violence and further call on all protestors to remain peaceful, even in the face of provocation.
“Any calls for an end to peaceful protests are not supported by the UPF and we re-iterate our support to everyone’s democratic right to peacefully protest.”
The statement continued: “The protests belong to the people and the aim of the UPF is to ensure the ordinary Protestant people of Ulster can have their voice heard and their right to peaceful protest is upheld.
“It remains our position that the protests were started by the people, were maintained by the people and it is the people who will decide when the protests will end or move to a new phase. No individual, group or political party can dictate to the law abiding Protestant people.”
The UPF further called for loyalists across Northern Ireland to support the protests, and have supported an alternative route to be walked by protesters from east Belfast to the city centre via Middlepass Street.
“The UPF ask for the support of loyalists all across Ulster and we clarify that the reason we have supported the alternative route on Saturday is because we feel that the PSNI brutality and behaviour have been totally incompetent in relation to protecting the Protestant people and by following an alternative route (which we stress has been suggested by the people on the ground and is not being imposed by the PSNI) we will show the world who the real antagonists are and we call on the PSNI to restrain the violent mobs in Short Strand and protect the Protestant people who will have shown by their actions that they only wish for their democratic right to peacefully protest to be upheld free from Republican attacks, intimidation or political policing,” the statement said.
“Allegations by Sinn Fein/IRA that protests are seeking interface violence are without foundation and complete lies being pushed the Sinn Fein propaganda machine.
“Our actions on Saturday will show the Sinn Fein claims for what they are, lies on behalf of violent mobs who have attacked peaceful protestors and the homes of innocent Protestants.
“The UPF give our commitment to the Protestant people of ulster that we will never be bought off nor will we allow anyone to impose upon the Protestant people of Ulster anything that is not the will of the people of the ground.”