Alternative to the Parades Commission

The Orange Order and some Unionists don't like the Parades Commission, but is there any realistic alternative?

Can we realistically go back to the days before the PC, when the decision to ban or allow a parade was based on which decision would produce least trouble, with the result that each side of any dispute was involved in an arms race (pun intended) of threat and counter threat.

No-one is happy with the current disputes and riots, but bad as these days have been, they are trivial compared to the destruction during the dark days of Drumcree.

Have we forgotten that we forced our march through in 1996 see (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg5G9AvaRNQ ) but the violence increased during the following years until the awful 1998 which saw a policeman kicked to death on the streets of Ballymoney simply because he had been on patrol at a parades dispute, followed by

• 615 attacks on the security forces, which left 76 police offices injured
• 24 shooting incidents
• 45 blast bombs thrown
• 632 petrol bombs thrown
• 837 plastic bullets fired by the security forces
• 144 houses and 165 other buildings attacked (the vast majority owned by Catholics and/or nationalists)
• 467 vehicles damaged and 178 vehicles hijacked, and
• 284 people arrested
• 3 children murdered by Loyalist petrol bombers in Ballymoney - Jason (aged 8), Mark (aged 9) and Richard Quinn (aged 10)

Traditional Parades Endanger Protestants

The more I listen to the news, the more annoyed I get with the Orange Order. 

Does anyone seriously believe that roads in interface areas become more open for Protestants as a result of forcing Orange Parades down them? 

Surely the Orange Order leadership can see that they are endangering the safety of Protestants living in these areas.  I used to live in Ballynafeigh and it was usually safe to walk across the bridge to pubs in Botanic Ave with my friends, but not after an Orange Parade.

Can we please take a fresh look at this tradition of parading.

Tradition. Just because you've always done it that way doesn't mean it's not incredibly stupid.

Into the Arms of Satan

I cannot equate the idea of an organisation being Christian, and then behaving in the same way the Orange Order has behaved over the past 15 years.

We hear middle aged men talking tough about the inevitability of violence, about the intense anger of the Protestant community and then we watch young Protestant teenagers involved in recreational rioting.

What effect is the Orange Order having on the morality of working class Protestants?

12th July - Another Glorious Riot?

Last night I had problems getting home to East Belfast from my mother's house.  All the roads seemed to be blocked as I came off the motorway.  Reading the newspapers today, I know why.

Was this good for the Protestant community?  I think not.  Once more we fall into a trap. 

Today's Newsletter (click link to read) includes the line 'If Orangemen do nothing in response to the commission decision over north Belfast, then the ban will become a precedent, and — like Drumcree — the settled position.' 

I used to live in Ballynafeigh and used to regularly cross the bridge past the Lower Ormeau on my way to meet friends in the city centre.  Most of the time it was safe, but on occasions there was trouble. 

On one occasion we were stoned by Donegal Pass kids on the way up the Ormeau Road because it was assumed we were Lower Ormeau Catholics, then we were stoned as we crossed the bridge by Lower Ormeau residents who rightly guessed we were Prods on our way home, and then on the other side of the bridge we again had to run for it as our own side mistook us for Catholics.  The reason things were so tense was of course because of a parade, which back then was forced through. 

One of the arguments used in favour of insisting on marching past the Lower Ormeau was that the Orangemen had to keep the road open for the Protestants of Ballynafeigh.  As I found out, their parade had exactly the opposite effect. 

The newsletter may well be right - perhaps we will never again see a parade past the Ardoyne shops.  However, the rioting of last night made this outcome more likely, not less. 

Perhaps we in the Protestant community need to think a little further ahead.

11th July

It is far too hot and too noisy to sleep. 

Got told off by my wife for taking a walk around the area at 1:00am to see what it was like. Despite the emotion over the Ligoniel lodges being banned from Ardoyne shops, the mood around the bonfires seemed to be relatively calm. 

The only thing I object to is the pollution - Belfast is surrounded by mountains, it is like a bowl shape and this seems to trap the air.  For anyone with asthma or breathing difficulties this cannot be fun.

Note that those are NOT CLOUDS in the sky - this is smoke from the bonfires!