Orange Order critics didn’t get the trouble that cameras were ready to record

A letter from William Baird:

On Tuesday’s Nolan Show radio programme, the editor of the News Letter Ben Lowry said what had to be said when he criticised the BBC’s lack of coverage of Saturday’s centenary parade.

And he said it well (see below link to the clip).

I was unable to walk the whole distance on Saturday but I was at Lower Newtownards Road, opposite Bryson Street, near the Short Strand.

I was in the company of Bro Robert Wilson DGM of the Grand Orange Lodge of England.

A BBC camera crew were there. Why?

There was a high ranking PSNI officer present, he was wearing a peaked hat with silver stuff on the peak.

They either expected or wanted something big to happen.

The PSNI had Bryson Street blocked with Land Rovers and across the road from Bryson Street the PSNI land rover with the camera pod was in place as were a least 15 PSNI officers.

The security fence around the chapel that is on the corner of Bryson Street and the Newtownards Road was covered in some black covering.

Someone in the PSNI had planned for a riot, camera in place to capture it all.

Whether it was to record an attack by Orangemen on the chapel or to record an attack on the parade from the chapel grounds is unclear

The BBC were in place to report this.

It would have received widespread coverage and it would have put the parade in disgrace and would have got more than the three minutes of coverage given to the massive parade.

Thankfully critics of the Orange Order did not get the story that cameras were ready to record.

William Baird, Lisburn

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