Dissident republican Easter parade held in Londonderry

A dissident republican parade has taken place in Londonderry.

The annual Easter Monday parade in Derry marks the Easter Rising against British rule in Dublin in 1916.

The parade started in the Central Drive area of Creggan before making its way to the City Cemetery.

A police helicopter monitored the procession overhead but there was no visible police presence on the ground.

There was a colour party of people wearing face coverings, sunglasses and paramilitary-style dress, carrying the Irish flag and republican flags.

A crowd of a couple of hundred people followed the parade to the cemetery, including a number of young people with their faces covered, some carrying petrol bombs and planks of wood.

The event, billed as the “Unfinished Revolution National Easter Commemoration”, concluded with speeches at the cemetery.

A small fire was started in the middle of the road outside some shops in the Creggan area.

The dissident republican event has sparked scenes of violence in previous years.

The organisers of the parade – the National Republican Commemoration Committee – had applied to the Parades Commission for permission for the Easter Monday event.

In its determination allowing the march to proceed, the commission explicitly prohibited the wearing of paramilitary-style clothes and flags linked to proscribed organisations.