The Orange Order has said that it welcomed the opportunity
to recently meet Us Special Envoy Mitchel Reiss.
The meeting with senior Orange officials was arranged by
Lagan Valley MP, Jeffrey Donaldson, a past Assistant Grand
Master of the Order, who was also present at the US Consulate
meeting.
The delegation outlined to Mr Reiss the background and significance
of the Order within the Protestant community, and highlighted
areas of concern. The Order said in a statement that it hoped
the meeting would be the first of a number which would allow
Mr Reiss to be briefed on the organisation and its views.
The meeting followed the leaking of comments which Mr Reiss
made about parades in the summer, and the US Envoy assured
Orange officials that the comments had been taken out of context
from the body of an e-mail which he sent. He accepted that
the majority of Orange Order parades were peaceful and had
no attendant problems and expressed a willingness to learn
more about the Institution.
Orange officials stressed the religious, cultural and community
values of the organisation and urged the Us administration
to take on board concerns about unionist and Protestant alienation,
a spokesman said.
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