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Belfast Agreement

The opinion of Grand Lodge on the Belfast Agreement as expressed in the run-up to the Referendum in May 1998

Orangemen and women, unionists and loyalists, should say 'NO' in the forthcoming Northern Ireland referendum, unless radical changes are ordered by Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Government on the agreement reached at Stormont on April 10.

The concerns of the greater number of people in Northern Ireland must be directly addressed and acted upon if a political settlement is to have any credibility within the wider populace in the Province.

To this end, the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland has requested an urgent meeting with the Prime Minister and, if this is granted, Grand Lodge officials will be seeking firm assurances and, where necessary, the removal of proposals in the Stormont Agreement which are clearly at variance with the wishes of the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland.

At its meeting last month the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland stated: "The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland takes note of the acceptance by the participants to the talks process of the document on April 10, but failing clarification of certain vital issues cannot recommend it to the people of Ulster".

Orangemen and unionists opposed to the agreement have been heartened by the stance taken by Lord Molyneaux of Killead, the Sovereign Grand Master of the Royal Black Institution, and by six of our Ulster Unionist M.P.'s who are Orangemen: the Rev. W. Martin Smyth, William Ross, Jeffrey Donaldson, William Thompson, Roy Beggs and Clifford Forsythe (since deceased).

Opposition to the agreement is quite definitely growing at grassroots unionist and Orange Lodge level; and a number of County Grand Lodges and Districts have publicly declared their positions.

The agreement is a very green-tinged document which has been carefully compiled to placate the pan-Irish nationalist front, of which Sinn Fein/I.R.A. is an integral component.

The concerns of the unionist/Orange family and their opposition to the document are fuelled by the following;

  • The over-riding role for the Dublin government in the internal affairs of Northern Ireland.
  • Doubts over the future and integrity of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.
  • Failure to copper-fasten the decommissioning of illegal terrorist weaponry.
  • The prospect of an undemocratically accountable Northern Ireland Assembly.
  • The prospect of unrepentant terrorists in the executive of the proposed Assembly.
  • The inclusion of mechanisms designed to make further concessions to the I.R.A.
  • The spectre of the Maryfield Eire Secretariat operating under another guise.
  • The early release of terrorist prisoners, both republican and loyalists, who have been convicted of the most heinous crimes.
  • The promotion of symbols and culture which are alien to the great majority of people in Northern Ireland.

As it presently stands, the agreement reached at Stormont of April 10 is something which very few unionists, if they are patently honest, could live with. Therefore we would implore pro-Union voters to have the courage of their convictions and, with the belief in protecting their birthright and heritage, they must do what is right for their beloved Province on May 22.

Only a dramatic intervention by Her Majesty's Government to make the agreement acceptable to the unionist majority in Northern Ireland will avert the disaster course our Province in now embarked upon

See also:

Press Release from the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland ~ 12th May 1998

Press Release from the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland ~ 2nd May 1998

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