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The Orange Order had no input or anything to do with the
organising of the 'Love Ulster' walk planned for Dublin, which
was brutally aborted on Saturday, February 25, yet hate-filled
republicans used the occasion to show to the world their hatred
for the Order.
The shouts and screams of hatred from the bigots who bombarded
members of the Garda with petrol bombs, bricks, stones and
other missiles were filled with venom and most of it directed
at the Orange Order.
There were, of course, Orangemen and Orangewomen among those
who travelled from Northern Ireland in support of FAIR, the
organisation which organised the proposed protest walk to
Leinster House.
But they travelled as individuals, most of them victims,
or relatives of victims murdered by the IRA during the 30
years of terrorism in Northern Ireland.
However, this did not dissuade the republican mobsters from
using the riot to display their hatred and intolerance of
all things Orange.
Dublin has a long history of such intolerance, and Orangemen
have only to reflect on what happened in 1998 to prove the
depth of this intolerance.
That year the Dublin and Wicklow Orange Lodge had planned
to have a small ceremony at the unveiling and dedication of
a small plaque in Dawson Street, close to the city centre.
This plaque commemorates the fact that the first meeting
of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland took place in a building
in Dawson Street in 1798.
No march was involved, and it would have been a low-key and
non-contentious event, involving mostly Southern Orangemen,
and a number from Northern Ireland who wanted to be present
at a truly historic affair.
The Lord Mayor of Dublin at the time, and the Corporation
gave their support, and there was a certain amount of interest
in the event.
However, republicans had other ideas, and weeks before the
unveiling ceremony, pressure was exerted on local traders
and shop-keepers, who produced a statement expressing their
opposition.
A Church of Ireland in the Dawson Street area was also denied
to the Orangemen for any purpose on the day of the ceremony,
and amid the growing agitation, the Lord Mayor and Corporation
had second thoughts.
All of a sudden substantial financial guarantees were demanded
from the Orange lodge and it was made clear that without this,
it was unlikely the event could go ahead.
The Orange Order, which had co-operated to the maximum, was
horrified at the intimidation to which members of its Dublin
and Wicklow lodge were subjected.
Such was the dismay on the part of the Orange Order that
it was decided that Orangemen would not be present at the
ceremony, and the harmless ceremony planned by the lodge was
abandoned.
The plaque was unveiled, but without any Orange presence
and the affair proved that the Republic of Ireland had not
matured to the extent that it could accommodate even a small
Orange ceremony in its capital city.
That would have been the first public Orange Order event
in Dublin since 1938, when Orangemen, making for the railway
to travel to Northern Ireland to celebrate the 'Twelfth' were
attacked in Talbot Street.
It wasn't to be, and the huge riot and appalling violence
on February 25 shows that there has been no change in attitudes
to Orangeism in Dublin.
In fairness, the February 25 walk by 'Love Ulster' had the
approval of the Government, and the Garda displayed professionalism
of a high standard in dealing with the violence from the republican
mobs. The police also deserve much credit for the way they
protected the Ulster walkers, and escorted their buses away
from the mayhem in the city centre.
The events of February 25 proved that hopes of Dublin being
able to host any event with a Unionist, Orange or loyalist
ethos, even one involving only victims of violence, appears
to be unrealistic.
The contrast with the annual Southern Irish Orange Twelfth
demonstration at Rossnowlagh in County Donegal, has understandably
been made by many observers.
That parade and demonstration, like church parades in Cavan,
Donegal, Monaghan and Leitrim, are held with the minimum of
fuss and with very low profile policing.
But Dublin is a different proposition, and the city's history
as far as Orangeism is concerned is not encouraging.
It is safe to assume that the majority of the Northern Ireland
people who travelled to Dublin on February 25 were unaware
of the fact that the buses from which they alighted near Parnell
Square, had taken them to within a few hundred yards of a
place with historic Orange connections.
In the vicinity of Parnell Square stands the building which
was once the headquarters of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland.
In this building - the Fowler Hall - Dublin Orangemen held
their meetings for many decades.
The Order was forced out of the Fowler Hall in 1921 when
the Civil War between the pro and anti-Treaty sections of
the IRA erupted.
Irregulars seized the Fowler Hall, and during their occupation
many important documents and files were destroyed.
It being unrealistic for the Grand Lodge to maintain its
historic headquarters in Dublin, the Grand Lodge moved north,
first to Portadown, and then a year later to Belfast, to establish
a new base of operations.
At one time there were over 30 Orange lodges flourishing
in Dublin and Wicklow. The decimation of the Protestant population
by two-thirds in the period from 1921 to the early 1930s had
a consequent devastating effect on Orange strength in most
of the 26 counties.
Lodges before 1921 had operated in Cork, especially the Bandon
area, and in other places like Queen's County and King's County.
There was little tolerance shown to Protestants in the years
from 1921, and few among the majority population expressed
any anger about the forced evacuation of tens of thousands
of Protestants, the closure of Protestant churches, and the
burning of scores of the 'Big Houses' - those occupied by
the Anglo-Irish, who had contributed so much to Irish society
and affairs for centuries.
Things have improved greatly since those days, and Protestants
are able to exercise freedom to worship, and there have been
encouraging signs of their numbers increasing.
But such toleration is rarely displayed towards Protestants
displaying any Unionist sympathies. Indeed, the once strong
Southern Irish tradition has been practically eradicated,
and no longer carries any weight.
As long as Protestants keep their heads below the parapets,
keep any pro-British thoughts to themselves, and decline to
support any Orange event, then they can be ignored.
So much for the 'Celtic Tiger' and talk of a new pluralist,
more secular, and tolerant Republic of Ireland society. It
doesn't yet exist, and if anyone doubts that just look at
the rows of flagpoles outside large international hotels in
Dublin and the South.
The flags of most major nations are often flown outside these
hotels, but it is very rarely that the Union Jack, flag of
the Republic's nearest neighbour, and home of a large percentage
of its tourist and visitors is flown.
When the Union Jack can be flown in the South, without comment,
and when and Orange parade can proceed peacefully along O'Connell
Street, with opposition limited to lawfully expressed placard
carrying peaceful folk, then the Republic can truly claim
to be all-accommodating and democratic.
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