Dear Prime Minister,
We, the Grand Orange Lodge of England, parading in the City
of London, on Saturday, November 12, 2005, do so in support
of our colleagues of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland and
the Protestant Community of Ulster in their quest to display
their culture and British way of life within this United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Whilst we do not condone the violence, both during and following
the Whiterock parade, we believe that the situation was inflamed
by the ludicrous decision of the Parades Commission and the
brutality of the Police Service of Northern Ireland in their
handling of the parade. Whilst the security forces were heavy
handed on this particular day, they showed leniency when they
themselves were under attack, by republicans, on July 12.
The Parades Commission, set up by your Government, is allegedly
unbiased in their decisions, however, we do not believe this
to be the case. The Parades Commission is there at the behest
of the so-called "Resident Committees", which are
headed by active members of Sinn Fein/IRA, a majority of whom
do not reside in the area they claim to represent. We firmly
believe that the Parades Commission was set up to bring about
the demise of the Orange Order; this they will fail to do.
The Belfast Agreement, we were assured, brought with it a
hope for lasting peace in Ulster. Promises and assurances
were given by Sinn Fein/IRA, which resulted in concessions
after concessions being made to the republican movement. Time
has proved that their promises and assurances were empty.
We have now witnessed the statement from the IRA in which
they have declared that they are now to adopt the democratic
and peaceful process, putting all arms beyond use.
This act of decommissioning and the destruction of arms were
witnessed by the International Monitoring Commission and two
members of the clergy, a Protestant and a Roman Catholic,
acting as independent witnesses. However, following the statement,
recently, by the Roman Catholic clergyman, in which he likened
"life for the nationalist community under a loyalist
regime to be the same as life for the Jews under the Nazis"
brings his neutrality into question and has revealed where
his true allegiance lies.
The Government's response to the IRA statement was to announce
more concessions to Sinn Fein/IRA by announcing that there
would be a scaling down of security, the dismantling of watch
towers and the disbanding of three battalions of the Royal
Irish Rangers, much to the applause of Sinn Fein/IRA and the
nationalist politicians.
The recent appointment of Peter Hain as Secretary of State
for Northern Ireland gives grave cause for concern, considering
his active involvement, in the past, in which he called for
the removal of troops from Northern Ireland and his open support
for a united Ireland.
Upon his appointment the Secretary of State stated that he
wished to meet with both sides of the community. We ask the
question: "Why are the Protestant community and the Orange
Institution still waiting?"
Does not the Government, and your goodself, accept that the
future well being of Northern Ireland is at the behest of
the majority and that the majority of the Protestant community
are totally opposed to the appeasement of this Government
to the minority.
We therefore call upon Her Majesty's Government to cease
from making any more concessions and to give an assurance
that the appeasement to Sinn Fein/IRA and the republican movement
will cease forthwith.
We call upon Her Majesty's Government to disband, immediately,
the Parades Commission, which since its inception must take
most, if not all, of the responsibility for the mayhem which
its decisions have caused. Doing so will help restore the
confidence of the Orange Order.
The wishes of the majority are, by this Government, being
totally ignored and it is the responsibility of Government
to restore the confidence of the majority that their British
way of life is not threatened and to help restore their confidence
in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, who have, in the
past, at the behest of politicians and bad leadership, been
heavy handed, and at times brutal, in their handling of Orange
Order and loyalist parades.
We look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
William Ronald Bather, Grand Master.
David Taggart, Grand Secretary.
|
