A woman who was seen flashing her breast while walking alongside a Twelfth parade dressed in Orange regalia has claimed a loyalist band dubbed her the “Taylor Swift of loyalism” and said she has been able to see “beyond the hate” in relation to the Twelfth.
Clodagh Byrne (31) was filmed on July 12 marching alongside the parade on Lisburn Road, dressed in a Sash, wearing a Bowler hat and carrying a bodhrán drum.
Woman flashes shocked onlookers during Belfast Twelfth parade
Appearing on the Whiskey n’ White podcast, produced by boxers Tyrone McKenna and Tommy McCarthy, the Castlederg woman said the stunt was part of a “creative process” and rejected being cast as a bigot.
“As a social worker, I would have worked with a lot of Protestant kids in care and had a real special relationship with them,” she said.
“I used to take them up to the Shankill to the parades. We as nationalists might see the negative side of the marches but I saw the positive side. I was able to see beyond the hate; we see a lot of hate in the media with loyalism, but there are also a lot of good family stuff that happens there.
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“When I was out on the Twelfth, I actually got invited between the parades to a lunch with the Sandy Row (band).
“They brought me on their private bus; they broke bread with me, fed me, gave me whiskey. They were calling me the Taylor Swift of loyalism. The way I was treated was absolutely amazing.
“I lost my virginity to a Protestant. My great granny was a Protestant. Oranges are my favourite fruit. I’m more pro-Prod than most Prods are. The hatred thing doesn’t come from the Twelfth of July.
“The cheers and support I was getting. People were fist-bumping me. Weans were shaking my hand. There was a woman out in the street that started twerking with me. It’s only when they went on my Instagram, they were like “uh-oh”.
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Byrne was arrested last week and appeared before Belfast Magistrates Court facing charges relating to seven offences including indecent behaviour, committing an act outraging public decency, obstructing a lawful public procession and behaviour likely to stir up hatred.
Among them she is accused of sending an indecent message over a public communications network sometime between July 11 and 13.
She is further charged with trespass on the property of Campbell College in east Belfast on July 11 and of using insulting words likely to cause fear or hatred on the same date.
Byrne is also accused of attempting to hinder a public procession and of indecent behaviour on July 12.
It’s also alleged Byrne distributed a threatening or abusive communication that was likely to stir up fear or hatred between July 11 and 13.
Judge Conner freed her on her own bail of £250 and ordered her to live at her parents’ address on the Tullycar Road outside Castlederg.
He also made Byrne subject to a curfew between the hours of 12am and 7am and for her not to go near any public procession of any kind.
The case is due to be heard in Belfast next on August 16.