Orange Order opens hand of friendship with 'Invitation Day', reinforcing community work and social aspect: "We're not a closed-door club, and it's not all talking about what sandwiches we're having at next year's Twelfth"

Members will be approaching family members, friends and colleagues they think might be interested in joining the fraternal organisation, which this year celebrates its 230th anniversary.

As chief executive of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, Iain Carlisle, explained, it’s an attempt to combat a perception that the Order is something of a closed door, when in fact it’s a broad church open to a wide variety of people.

“We carried out an audit to find out why people hadn’t joined – was it the expense, the commitment, the perception et cetera,” Iain told the News Letter. “The main answer was they hadn’t been asked. People don’t have to be asked, they can enquire at their local lodge, but that was a common image.

"That’s what Invitation Day is about; to be outward-facing and reach those people. But we also need to reinforce that the impetus is on our members to go out and say we’re open to new people joining, and get people to call down for a coffee and a chat.

"There is a perception that it’s internal; a closed-door club, passed down from father to son and that’s it. That’s not the case, and we want to highlight the opportunity for members to speak to people they know who may be interested.

"We’re in a healthy place now, but as a membership club we of course want members. I think we’re in a position to build.”

The organisation developed a new emphasis on community work during Covid, something it’s carried on the years since; Invitation Day, hopes Iain, can now reinforce its central place in the lives of cities, towns and villages across the province with a swathe of incoming members who can add to its traditions.

“During Covid, lots of areas reinvented themselves,” he says. “We were delivering PPE, we bought a lot of PPE for distribution, we were opening up halls as community kitchens, doing taxi runs and hospital runs for people in need.

“That sparked the realisation that in many places, the Lodge and the Orange Hall are integral parts of our community, alongside churches and other community groups. We’re seeing a continuation of that spirit; lots of halls are much more open for a range of activities than they were before. It’s about trying to re-establish and re-normalise the role of the Orange Order in wider society.”

In an era of increased working from home, when people increasingly communicate by messaging apps and social media, and when old school clubs, societies and associations are declining in general, it’s increasingly difficult to tear people away from the streaming services in their living rooms to meet up in person.

Indeed, society is more and more facing problems caused by loneliness in older people and isolation among young men, with questions regularly asked about what can be done to ease those issues. Mr Carlisle suggests the Orange Order is a good answer, stating that men of them are more like men’s sheds.

“Once the business element is done, it’s settling down for a chat with a brew, or a game of darts – it’s not all planning what sandwiches we’re having at next year’s Twelfth,” he laughs.