Twelfth 'should be Irish holiday'
A CALL from a former Irish government minister to make the Twelfth a national holiday in the Republic has received a broad welcome in Northern Ireland.
Former Progressive Dem-ocrat leader Michael Mc-Dowell told the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Co Donegal, that while a good start had been made in turning the site of the Battle of the Boyne at Oldbridge into a national monument, it might now be time to make the Twelfth a national holiday in the south.
"I think if we are genuine republicans, if the Orange panel on the flag means anything, we have to consider building an inclusive society," he said on Wednesday.
"If Irish government ministers can go all the way around the world to St Patrick's Day parades, maybe the time has come for them to acknowledge that north of the border one community has a big national festival, and maybe an Irish government minister could make the physical journey and the mental journey there.
"It's not a sweetener, it's a matter of friendship, of simply saying we acknowledge the Battle of the Boyne to which the Orange tradition attributes major historical significance.
"The civil and political liberties which were at the forefront of their mind at that time are values that we hold."
Grand Secretary of the Orange Order Drew Nelson welcomed the support for the Twelfth but cautioned there were still issues in the way of the Protestant and Orange culture being recognised properly in the Republic.
"Amongst the nationalist community in the Republic there seems to be two ways of looking at the Tricolour, some people see it as green, white and orange but others see it as green, white and gold and it is still common amongst older people in the Republic to say it is green, white and gold," he said.
"In relation to the suggestion of making the Twelfth a national holiday in the Republic, we certainly welcome that and see it as a positive and concrete recognition of the validity of the Orange tradition."
DUP MP Jeffrey Donaldson said he welcomed the comments by Mr McDowell which he termed as a "positive contribution to the debate about improving the acceptance and understanding of the Orange culture and tradition in the Irish Republic".
A UUP spokesman said if the Republic made the Twelfth a national holiday it would "demonstrate a commitment to similarly recognising historic cultural diversity in the other part of the island".
"In Northern Ireland we reflect our rich and diverse cultural history by marking both 12th July and 17th March as public holidays," he said.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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