ENGLISH UNIONIST

FROM: CHRISTOPHER LUKE
Flat 5 Kirkdale House
Kirkdale Road
Royal Tunbridge Wells
Kent TN1 2SB

13 June 2007

TO: The Strategic Review on Parading
Enterprise House
55-59 Adelaide Street
Belfast
BT2 8FE


Dear Sirs

I welcome this opportunity to contribute my views on the issue of Public Processions in Northern Ireland.

As we approach “the Twelfth [of July]” – when Orangemen, women and children parade through many towns and cities, villages and hamlets, throughout the United Kingdom (but particularly in Northern Ireland) to commemorate the Williamite victory in the Glorious Revolution of 1688-1690 – I appeal to you to take time to read the booklet “The Order On Parade” by Graham Montgomery & Richard Whitten (published by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland Education Committee and available from the G.O.L.I., 368 Cregagh Road, Belfast, BT6 9EY) as background information to why the Members of the Loyal Orange Institution parade. The Apprentice Boys of Derry and the Imperial Grand Black Chapter of the British Commonwealth Royal Black Institution parade for similar reasons to those proffered by Messrs Montgomery and Whitten as to why the Orange Order demonstrates. I would further recommend that you read the booklet “Let The Orange Banners Speak” by Pastor Alan Campbell (published by, and available from, Open-Bible Ministries, P.O. Box 92, Belfast, BT5 7SA) and “The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate Portrait of the Loyal Institutions” by Dublin-born Roman Catholic author Ruth Dudley-Edwards (published by Harper Collins Publishers, and available from all good booksellers or on loan from public libraries).

Secondly, as a Member of both the Imperial Grand Black Chapter of the British Commonwealth and the Loyal Orange Institution of England who frequently participates in parades in Northern Ireland, one cannot help feeling how ironic it is that townies have been given “the right to roam” over privately-owned rural land in England & Wales – under provisions contained in the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 – when Members of the Loyal Orders (i.e., the Apprentice Boys of Derry, British Commonwealth Royal Black Institution and the Loyal Orange Institution) have been, and are being, simultaneously denied the right to walk public roads and highways in many parts of Northern Ireland, thanks to the dictates of the Parades Commission.

There are four points to be made here:-

(I). There is deep-rooted suspicion in Northern Ireland – particularly in Unionist circles – that the Parades Commission was established to face down the Loyal Orders who, over the years, have provided a valuable role both in maintaining the rule of law within the Ulster Protestant Community and providing valuable training for many individuals in the administration of community affairs/events and representation of local communities in the absence of meaningful local government. [The existing powers and responsibilities of the Province’s twenty-six local authorities rarely exceed those of largely impotent English Parish Councils, whilst successive U.K. Government attempts to re-establish devolved government in Northern Ireland have failed, just as surely as the current experiment will ultimately fail, due to the insistence on permanent compulsory coalition government being a prerequisite for devolution].

Added to that, there is a widespread distrust of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations in general – particularly since the establishment of the Anglo-Irish (now British-Irish) Intergovernmental Conference and Secretariat in November 1985 – when successive Governments of the Irish Republic have had a major say in persons appointed to serve on such quangos as, no matter how impartial or well-intentioned quango members may be, many Pro-Union voters regard members of such bodies as being the stooges of a hostile foreign government intent on denying Northern Ireland’s identity as an integral part of the United Kingdom, particularly the Parades Commission which appears to be accountable to no-one and a law unto itself.

(II). It never made sense to establish a Commission which, on one hand, is responsible for adjudicating on contentious parades, whilst on the other being responsible for mediation between communities with conflicting opinions on whether parades should be allowed to proceed, as conflict will arise between its adjudicating and mediating roles. It also has to be said that the Parades Commission’s remit has been so broad that it is seen as policing by quango and above the Police Service of Northern Ireland (P.S.N.I) and, prior to its disbandment, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (R.U.C). Rulings of the Parades Commission have frequently been draconian and often compromised the Loyal Orders’ right to freedom of movement, freedom of religion and worship, freedom of speech & publication, and freedom of assembly and association for a lawful purpose: rulings which have been, and one suspects will increasingly be, the subject of legal challenges in the courts following the implementation of the 1998 Human Rights Act (incorporating the European Convention on Human Rights into U.K. domestic law) in October 2000. If overturned in the courts, the Parades Commission’s earlier rulings may well result in huge amounts of rate-and-taxpayers’ money being squandered on legal costs, etc, and ever-decreasing public confidence in the Commission by the people of Northern Ireland as a whole.

(III). Contrary to media disinformation, there is no such thing as a “Catholic area” of Northern Ireland anymore than there is such a thing as a “Protestant area”, although both republican and self-styled ‘loyalist’ terrorists use their religious identities to institutionalise sectarianism in the Province. Members of the Loyal Orders do not pass through “Catholic areas” although they frequently pass by residential areas dominated by adherents of the Roman Catholic faith. Population changes may themselves alter the composition of residential areas which Members of the Loyal Orders pass by, en-route to the destination of their demonstration, on public roads and highways they and their forefathers have walked for generations. Nevertheless, preventing one religious sect from parading past another only creates ‘no-go areas’ and establishes cultural apartheid – reinforced by prejudice and fear – not a pluralist society in which cultural and/or racial diversity is recognised and respected. Members in all the Loyal Orders and accompanying bands parade under strict rules which provide for immediate suspension or, in severe cases, expulsion from the bands and/or the Loyal Orders themselves if their behaviour does not meet prescribed codes of conduct. Both Her Majesty’s Government and the Parades Commission have consistently failed to appreciate these facts.

(IV). Open-air parades, rallies, religious services, etc, are not confined to Northern Ireland, as vividly demonstrated in the annual City of London District Loyal Orange Lodge Parade, Gay Pride walk and Notting Hill Carnival: all of which take place not far from the House of Commons in the heart of Westminster, and/or the Durham Miners’ Gala which also takes place annually close to both Tony Blair’s constituency, and which some people would argue are equally – if not more – contentious as many of the parades in Northern Ireland, yet there is no analogous body (as yet) to regulate public processions either in England or, for that matter, elsewhere in the United Kingdom; this seems to imply that Northern Ireland is unique in needing such a body to police such activities. One could argue therefore, that there is a case for a U.K-wide Parades Commission or analogous bodies to the Northern Ireland Parades Commission being established in England, Scotland and Wales, although neither is the road I would go down.

Properly marketed by the Northern Ireland Tourist Board et al, the “Relief of Derry”, “Black Saturday” and “Twelfth of July” parades and demonstrations in the Province have the potential to become major tourist attractions and bring much-needed job-creation and inward investment to Northern Ireland as, already, many Members of the Loyal Orders and their families (usually resident in England, Scotland and Wales) participate in parades and/or take holidays in the Province. It is a tragedy that, whilst the overwhelming majority of parades in Northern Ireland pass off peacefully (without incident), a minority have become a cause for terrorists – masquerading as “concerned community” or “residents” groups – to vociferously oppose such processions and incite hatred between and within communities.

New Labour claims to be committed to equality of opportunity for all British subjects within the United Kingdom. That being so, having given ramblers and walkers the right to roam in England and Wales, I urge you to recommend to Her Majesty’s Government that it disbands the Parades Commission and repeals the Public Processions Etc (Northern Ireland) Act at the earliest opportunity, to allow Members of the Loyal Orders the right to march, and heal the divisions which both HMG and the Parades Commission have needlessly created in Northern Ireland.

Yours Faithfully


CHRISTOPHER LUKE
Hon. Life Member, Queen’s University Belfast Ulster Unionist Association, and Member, William Alexander Memorial Loyal Orange Lodge No. 1689 (London).