Cricket Club says decision over cancelled GAA event was not influenced Comber Orange lodge
North Down Cricket Club has said it cancelled a cross-community children’s sports event involving the East Belfast GAA club before any comment or statement from Goldsprings Orange Lodge, and was not influenced by them.
The club has said it took the decision on Monday morning – with the Orange statement released on Tuesday afternoon.
The Comber-based lodge has hit out at media coverage of the dispute – and had challenged the cricket club (NDCC) to clarify the timeline of events.
Goldsprings asked the club to “publicly and unequivocally” state that its decision to cancel the event – involving children from the Gaelic club – was not as a result of its statement.
The club’s decision had led to widespread political condemnation of the Orange Order – with various media reports stating that it had happened after a statement released by the lodge.
NDCC has now said it wants “to be clear on a couple of facts”. In a statement on its website it says the event was cancelled on Monday morning “following concerns raised privately — and later publicly on social media”.
It added: “This decision was taken before any comment or statement from Goldsprings Lodge, and was not influenced by them. We’re grateful to them for subsequently reaching out in a spirit of clarity and respectful communication”.
The club said it now wants to return to focusing on cricket, and will be making no further comment on the matter.
During the week, the BBC repeatedly reported that the event had been cancelled after the Orange lodge statement, which said the GAA’s “presence in Comber” would be opposed by residents until it “takes meaningful steps to ensure it is fully inclusive and sensitive to the history and identity of the Protestant, Unionist and Loyalist (PUL) community.
In a new statement, the local lodge says that the cancellation of the event was because of concerns expressed by the community which “were neither manufactured nor malicious”.
“They arose from genuine and widespread unease following the circulation of messages across local WhatsApp groups and informal community networks here in Comber”, Goldsprings lodge said.
They said that the messages, “regardless of their complete accuracy, prompted an important and sincere conversation” – which “was not motivated by prejudice, but by a shared desire to safeguard the cultural balance, mutual respect and quiet dignity that defines our town”.
In the second statement, published on Wednesday evening, they said: “First and foremost, it is important to state that the decision to cancel the proposed ‘GAA mixed with cricket’ event was taken by North Down Cricket Club prior to the release of our statement, not as a result of it.
“In the interests of transparency and community confidence, we believe the club should now acknowledge this publicly and unequivocally”.
Cricket Ireland has invited East Belfast GAA to take part in a separate event in Stormont.
NDCC previously said that it reflects “the best of our community and our Ulster-British heritage — confident, welcoming, and grounded in respect”. They said: “openness is not a threat. Respect is not surrender. And our culture is not so fragile that it can’t be shared”.
On Wednesday, Brian MacNeice, Chair of Cricket Ireland, said his organisation has invited East Belfast GAA to a similar event in Stormont in July.