Unity

From Unity, 30 January 2010

Media review

Don’t damn our future!

by W. Owl

In his Irish News column on 25 January, Roy Garland took the Orange Order to task over the parades issue and especially its linkage to policing and justice.
     Writing under the heading “Order’s stubbornness mustn’t be allowed to damn the future,” he argued that the devolution of policing and justice had been wrongly tied to the parades issue and that this had enabled the Orange Order to play a “hidden hand” in negotiations.
     Making the point that settling the parades issue would always be extremely difficult, he recalled the time when Ian Paisley depicted the Garvaghy Road walk as “almost a sacred obligation,” and this showed “how utterly contentious that matter could become again.”
     He accepted that whilst Paisley had changed, “we are left with this terrible legacy.”
     Garland argues that the Orange Order and residents are the only people who can properly settle the parades issue but adds, “But too many seem to be living in the aftermath of 1690 and don’t seem to appreciate that democracy means accommodating the needs of others.”
     In terms of that history, his belief is that the Battle of the Boyne “represented progress,” in that it brought “absolute monarchy” to an end. The aftermath, though brought Penal Laws that punished Presbyterians and Catholics alike. It also brought the Protestant (Anglican) ascendancy, which “thankfully has now gone for good.”
     He goes on to state: “Most of us have moved beyond the 1690 mentality with its irresolvable conflicts,” but then he argues that the Orange leadership must face up to its duty, “as a putative Christian organisation,” to foster better relations with the Catholic-nationalist community.
     If they did this and saw a positive response from residents, he argues that there would be no need for a Parades Commission or high-powered negotiations. This, though, would require “serious open engagement” with Sinn Féin, as they are the major representatives of the Catholic-nationalist community, accepting that whilst some efforts have been made he understands the difficult ties some Orangemen may have.
     Whilst he recognises that many Orangemen suffered at the hands of republicans, he poses the question: “But should we allow the pain of victims to damn our future?”
     He goes on to state that the order is not a political party and should be able to find enough space and freedom to show a better way, adding “As one of the oldest cross–border bodies they retain an all-Ireland dimension that could help foster an end to the ancient stalemate.”
     Having said that, he does make the point that in the 1990s Orange parades only added to the political difficulties here, because they only provided a “difficult political backdrop.”
     He writes that contentious Orange parades can threaten the very existence of Northern Ireland, and that “few senior member of the Order, or indeed unionists, have demonstrated a willingness to face the excruciating rethink that progressive loyalists have faced and overcome.”
     This “omission,” he argues, “helps explain why unionists remain in the doldrums.”
     Despite this, he writes that we can now glimpse how different this society would be without sectarian animosity but thinks Orange and unionist leaders should reflect on the past and accept that unionism contributed to the conflict, making the point that “our pigheadedness spoiled too many opportunities to change the dynamic.”
     As regards the problem some unionists might have with Martin McGuinness if he becomes First Minister, he argues that if Ian Paisley could have “fellowship” with him “surely the rest of us can live with what is essentially a symbolic position.”
     He believes that if the Orange Order maintains its reactionary “not an inch” mentality it would damage them “possibly terminally,” and that “it would be crazy to emulate Samson when he pulled the whole house down.”
     He finishes by saying that the Orange Order should deal with the problems of parading. A failure on their part, he writes, should lead to the legal authorities taking responsibility, adding: “Our shared problems are too serious to allow the Orange Order to damn all our futures.”

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