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The parade route from Dunloy Orange Hall to the local Presbyterian
Church has few houses directly facing onto it.
But allowing a small group of Orangemen to process that route
has proved too much for 'concerned residents' over the past
few years.
The Orange Hall is daubed with paint, its very presence also
causing offence.
But who, one wonders, could be offended by an Easter Sunday
parade and service? No protestors indicated that they intended
to appear, yet despite an extensive community awareness programme
- and a letter to every resident along the parade route -
the Parades Commission decided to impose farcical restrictions
which meant the Dunloy Lodge was only allowed to process the
length of its boundary fence and turn around.
No one should be surprised that this matter will not be going
away. The Orange community will be learning in due course
of further steps to probe the validity of decisions taken
by the discredited Parades Commission, and the role of the
PSNI in recommendations and determinations.
In the meantime, County Antrim Grand Orange Lodge is being
assisted by Grand Lodge in highlighting the human rights issues
over not only the Dunloy parade but also other parades and
expressions of Orange culture.
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