It's generally agreed that this summer's Orange and Black
parades have been the biggest and most successful for years,
and were reminiscent of pre-Troubles years.
The Orange Institution has every reason to feel pleased by
the size and deportment of its parades, by the huge support
it enjoyed from the general public, and the generally favourable
publicity it received in the media.
That's terrific, and Orangemen are entitled to feel satisfied
as they look back on a very enjoyable summer's parading and
demonstrating.
But there must never be complacency in the ranks of the Orange
Order, and in spite of the huge success of this summer's events,
there are still lessons to be drawn and improvements which
can be carried out.
It is somewhat ironical that in a year when so much has been
going for the loyal orders, some pundits have been predicting
difficult times ahead for the Orange Institution and have
been questioning whether it can continue to hold the allegiance
of the huge section of the Protestant population in Northern
Ireland and continue to attract young recruits.
It is up to the Order at every level, from private lodge
to Grand Lodge to prove the doubters wrong, and to not only
consolidate what has been achieved this year, but to build
on it, and advance.
This has been a great year for the Order, and in the early
part of the year there was a morale-boosting report revealed
which showed that the membership in Northern Ireland was as
high as it had been in 1900, and that in some counties, including
Antrim and Londonderry, there are more Orangemen today than
there were over a century ago.
There have been new lodges formed in Londonderry City and
other places, while over the border in counties Donegal, Monaghan
and Cavan, the Orange Order has made significant progress.
But the Order cannot rest on its laurels, and new ideas must
be advanced and explored to see how it can make the best use
of its resources and its potential.
There is a definite potential for advance in places like
North Down, where a huge Protestant population has many estates
and areas where Orange lodges do not exist. That should be
'missionary' territory for the Orange Institution. The Order
has lost many of its traditional recruiting grounds, simply
because there is no longer a significant Protestant population
residing there.
The answer to this is to move into estates and areas where
there is a new Protestant population. Places like Lisburn,
Bangor, Antrim, Carrickfergus, New Mossley, Newtownabbey and
others spring to mind, but top of the list must be North Down
where there is a huge population.
The use of new technology and the internet must be explored,
and lodges must also address the question of injecting maximum
interest into their proceedings. Long since gone - hopefully
- is the situation whereby lodge meetings would be dominated
about discussions over the hire of a band for the 'Twelfth'
or how much the tea and sandwiches would cost.
Today, the progressive lodges hold picnics and barbeques,
outings to museums, heritage centres and beauty spots, and
they make sure their winter programme of meetings contain
a list of special speakers, and things like discussion, quizes
and visits to other lodges - perhaps with the objective of
'twinning'.
Everything within reason must be explored to make the Order
more attractive, especially to Protestants who have strong
Christian principles.
There must be no diminuation or dilution of the membership
qualifications for Orangemen, but that does not mean that
lodges cannot have success in their recruiting drives.
The 21st century, with its great advances in technology,
its complex and changing society, offers greater challenges
than ever. But Orangeism, from its formation in 1795 has always
displayed a resilience and an ability to meet the changes
and the innovations of each generation, and there is absolutely
no reason why it cannot continue to do the same.
Orangeism must not stand still, and it must not allow even
the successes of this year to deflect it from its ability
to adjust in order to meet new circumstances. The Order must
draw inspiration from the wonderful summer it has enjoyed,
and use that as a launching pad for further advancement in
the future.
|
