Training stewards for Boys' parades pays dividends

Reviewing this year's parade, Mr Moore said he thought the parade had gone well this year when compared to other Apprentice Boys parades in the past.

"I think everything went fairly well. We had a trouble-free day this year. You always get and there will always be a few hiccups and difficulties whenever your are trying to organise and manage 140 bands, but I think the Apprentice Boys of Derry stewards played a very very important role. I think the training and the NVQs they have received over the last number of years has paid dividends. That said, there are a few aspects relating to policing requirements that need to be ironed out and through discussion I think they can be can be ironed out and we can overcome them. These are nothing of any great significance, but there is always room for improvement, and we cannot be complacent and go around saying we are 100 per cent perfect. We must always strive for perfection but there is always a need to review aspects," Mr Moore said.

He said that reviews would be done in conjunction with the police and stewards, as well as any organisation or anyone else who had to be brought into the equation.

"It doesn't take a parade to create a late night disturbance, you see them throughout the year, whether or not there is a parade there have been disturbances and this is a policing matter and the police will have to deal with it. It is also a matter for the various communities in the localities where disturbances take place. It is up to them to find a resolution to it," he said.

He said violence and disturbances were "obviously not doing anyone any good" in light of the City receiving the UK City of Culture title.

"These people have to be told there is no significance in what they do, that there is no reason for it and those days of riots for the sake of 'recreational violence' are at an end," Mr Moore said.

Stressing that consultation had to take place at every level and across all groupings in the City, he said the Apprentice Boys wanted to move forward promoting their history and culture and he believed everyone had a role to play in delivering vibrant community relations and promoting the traditions that existed here.

"This will, hopefully, bring a considerable number of tourists and visitors to the City in years to come and beyond 2013. That is something we aim to promote. After 2013 there has to be a legacy and we need to maintain and sustain that level of tourism."

Asked his opinion on the PSNI initiative 'Operation Exposure' as a means of quelling disorder, Mr Moore said: "I think any means that brings an end to violence in the City is a positive thing for the City. The police have a right to use whatever means they believe they need if it will prevent violence from reoccurring. I think the police are trying to crack down on violence, and if this is a means of delivering an end result, which means there is no more violence, or if it lessens the potential for violence in the City that would be welcomed," he said.