DUP leader to address Orange Order demonstration in Scotland

DUP leader Arlene Foster is to be guest speaker at a major Orange Order parade in Scotland later this month.

By The Newsroom

Published 1st Jun 2018, 10:35 BST

Updated 19th Jun 2018, 00:11 BST

The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland confirmed the politician has accepted an invite to the Country Grand Lodge of the East of Scotland parade in Cowdenbeath, Fife.

The organisation’s executive officer Robert McLean said he believed it is the first time she has attended one of the Boyne celebration parades in Scotland.

He said: “She’s been invited to be the guest speaker. The main speech would be by Arlene Foster.”

He added that attendance by Northern Ireland politicians at Scottish parades was not unusual and former First Minister and DUP leader Peter Robinson had done so in the past.

Mrs Foster was Northern Ireland’s First Minister until the collapse of the powersharing agreement at Stormont last year.

The parade on June 30 is one of the biggest in Scotland and involves lodges from Fife, Edinburgh, the Lothians and elsewhere in the central belt.