Orange Order hits out at 'McGuinness intolerance'
THE Orange Order has accused the Deputy First Minister of showing it ongoing intolerance and failing to live up to his ministerial pledge to work for a shared future.
Grand Secretary of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Drew Nelson, was speaking at the opening of a new Orange Arch in Annalong, where he responded to a speech by Sinn Fein MP Martin McGuinness at Bodenstown on June 21.
"He accused us of sectarian provocation because we want to maintain our traditional parades," said Mr Nelson. "When our members take part in parades I believe that they are doing so as a re-affirmation of their Protestantism and their Britishness. Nothing more or less than that. And of course that is what Martin McGuinness hates about our parades."
As an Irishman and a British citizen, Mr Nelson challenged Mr McGuinness to condemn the murder of the 273 Irishmen who were members of the Orange Order.
At Bodenstown Mr McGuinness said it was now time to focus on what he described as the "few controversial" Orange parades which still exist.
He called for a declaration from the Orange Order that in future "they will no longer seek to force parades through Catholic areas and risk bringing violence onto our streets".
And he called on the Order and Irish and British Governments for measures to ensure that "nationalist communities will no longer be subjected to these sorts of triumphalist parades".
Mr Nelson said that the Deputy First Minister's Pledge of Office requires Mr McGuinness "to promote the interests of the whole community represented in the Northern Ireland Assembly towards the goal of a shared future".
"Do you really want a shared future in Northern Ireland?" asked the Orange leader. "If so then step up to the mark and encourage the community which you represent to share the Garvaghy Road with us for just 15 minutes once a year," he said.
The County Grand Secretary of Fermanagh, Robert Dane, said it was "a very sad state of affairs" that he was speaking at the opening of what he described as "the only Orange arch that remains in county Fermanagh".
He said the culture of Orangeism and the Protestant community was under attack and called for mutual respect with gaelic culture.
"There is a growing trend in society that all things gaelic and Irish are seen as worthy and integral to the life of a community while some people tend to look down on Orange culture as if it was a second class citizen," he said. "The two very different cultures can live side by side."
Meanwhile, Orange Order Director of Services, Dr David Hume, told an Orange commemoration in Glenarm Orange Hall that they were honouring the courage of the men who fought in the Battle of the Somme, in particular those from the 36th Ulster Division.
He said they would never forget the Ulster Volunteers from Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan whose loss caused "irreparable damage to small minority Protestant communities there".
And he affirmed that their sacrifice meant that public opinion in the rest of the UK would not allow Northern Ireland to be removed from the union. “The foundation of Northern Ireland was laid in the trenches of the Somme,” he said.
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Monday 13 February 2012
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