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The Grand Master, Robert S. Saulters, speaking for The Grand
Orange Lodge of Ireland said he was saddened by the disturbances
in Belfast at the weekend following the decision not to allow
the Whiterock Parade along its traditional route.
Perhaps the most worrying thing about the weekend's events
is the widespread feelings of frustration within the protestant
community, and the extent to which ordinary decent, and reasonable
men have been goaded into behaving out of character by the
authorities and their insistence on appeasing and rewarding
nationalists at the expense of loyalists.
In my view, the situation in Belfast at the weekend was exacerbated
by the actions of the PSNI. The chief constable Sir Hugh Orde
described his force's performance on Saturday as world-class
policing. It wasn't, it was 3rd class policing. They approached
policing on the day in an aggressive and arrogant manner.
Their complete lack of respect for the Order, its members,
and memorabilia would not be tolerated against any other cultural
or religious group anywhere else in the United Kingdom. This
does not excuse the violence but it does go some way to explaining
it.
The week before the parade, senior members of Belfast County
Grand Orange Lodge went to extraordinary lengths to brief
police officers, government ministers and political representatives
on the depth of frustration within the Protestant community
and the potential for trouble. Earlier in the summer Belfast
No 9 district had shown real leadership by postponing the
parade to avoid trouble. There seems to be a complete lack
of understanding of what is happening within the protestant
community. For years we have seen nationalists achieve what
they want by violence and the threat of violence. In these
circumstances when frustrated and with no other option we
should not be surprised that some individuals resort to violence.
I am deeply concerned at the attempt to demonise the Institution,
to make us the scapegoats for what happened on Saturday. We
may have put the lance in place to lance the boil but the
boil already existed and was not of our making.
Let's put what happened into context. Leading up to the parade
we highlighted the potential for violence. Did the PSNI advise
their cohorts at the Parades Commission look at the big picture
when they were making their determination. Did they look at
the potential that existed for violence? No clearly they did
not. This determination was the last hooray of a defunct agency,
that was feeling petulant because we had not engaged with
them. Some of the responsibility for this must fall at their
feet.
Peter Hain the Secretary of State - I wrote asking asking
for a meeting to tell him of our fears and also to give him
solutions on parading. Let me quote from the letter 'We trust
this meeting will take place as quickly as possible'. That
was on the 26th May, we're still waiting. Clearly Mr Hain
sees no value in meeting the Institution - after all we are
only the biggest protestant cultural group in Northern Ireland.
What does that say to Protestants everywhere. We are not important,
we are not on the Secretary of States agenda. On the contrary
we are an organization which spans all the protestant religious
groups with members from every walk of life. It's a disgrace
this part-time Secretary of State choose to ignore us.
Then we have Hugh Orde - Over the last few months his mantra
has been about proportionate policing -what he and his officers
did on Saturday was anything but. All of us want a police
force that is fair. A police force that show no favors, that
treats all citizens equally. I ask you the question, do you
think that is what we have. I don't, and a lot of others think
the same as me. But rather than let this dissolve into a tit
for tat match lets look at the facts:
Hugh Orde stated that 31 officers were hurt on Saturday with
one being hospitalized. Compare that to the twelfth night
at Ardoyne. Members of this Institution were attacked by nationalists.
The PSNI responded to their rioting by standing on the edge
of their area for 4 hours using water canon. In this instance
105 officers were hurt. On Saturday the PSNI used over 450
- 450 plastic bullets. We understand that individual officers
had to ask 6 times to deploy plastic bullets at Ardoyne yet
at Whiterock they deployed within minutes. I would ask how
many plastic bullets were deployed at Ardoyne.
I challenge you all - look at policing in the two communities.
Get the facts and make the comparisons. Lets see if they stack
up.
All we are asking for is a decent police service with no
special favors.
Above all we call on the establishment in Northern Ireland
in the shape of the Parades Commission, the Northern Ireland
Office, the PSNI and even you members of the media to question
whether protestants are getting a fair deal under the peace
agreement and how we ensure that the frustrations that we
saw spill out onto the streets of Belfast these last few days
are addressed.
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