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Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland
  Orange Standard

Remembering St. Patrick With Dignity

Article 5 ~ May 2003

The dignified and impressive parades and church services held by Orangemen in Ballymena, Dromore and other places to mark St. Patrick's Day reflected great credit on the organisers. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, and much of the heritage and traditions associated with him is connected with Northern Ireland.

There is every reason to believe that his brand of Christianity would be in accord with that of post-Reformation evangelical Protestantism, and for that reason it is fitting that people of the Reformed Faith should celebrate St. Patrick's Day. In all parts of this island parades and rallies are held on St. Patrick's Day, and many of them are cross-community, giving no offence to anyone.

The same cannot be said of the concert held outside Belfast City Hall, and while people were spared the triumphal parades of previous years with republicans waving tricolours, the event this year certainly did not fall into the category of being inclusive and cross-community.

There were too many Celtic tops, green white and gold tricolours and pro-republican chants for this rally to have attracted Protestants and people loyal to the United Kingdom.

The same underlying message was that this was a 'cold house' for Protestants, and that surely defeated the objective of providing an event which everyone could enjoy.

Belfast City Council certainly made the right decision in not funding the event, and until firm steps are taken to transform this into a non-political and non-partisan event, then public funding should be withheld.

At least people were spared a provocative parade this year, unlike Kileel where three nationalist bands were permitted to parade through a part of the town centre previously closed to this sort of thing. In spite of dire predictions the event passed off reasonably quiet, with few Protestants taking any notice.

Will the authorities follow this example and permit Orangemen to walk their traditional routes in Portadown and Ballynafeigh this summer? In the interest of fair play they should, and those Roman Catholics and nationalists who say they find loyal orders parades offensive should adopt the same reasonable attitude of the folk in places like Kilkeel and Cookstown, another predominately Protestant town which hosted an AOH parade, and simply stay away, ignoring it.

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