Let's Move On

Last July I was asked to co chair a public meeting organised by CARA to discuss the twelfth parades past Ardoyne. The meeting was frank and sometimes fraught with tension and disagreement, but people were honest and expressed heartfelt sentiments. Being co chair I was unable to contribute to the discussion and in a way that enabled me to listen and reflect, more than I normally would, on what was being said rather than making sure that I got the opportunity to get my opinion across.
What struck me was the degree to which many of those present, in most cases confident, articulate and forward thinking people, elevate the Orange Order and give it a significance to which it is no longer worthy.
Gone are the days of, Where We Walk, We Rule. In its place are eleven bar one requests forms, submissions and negotiations. Not a perfect system or even a fair one, but a system that none the less places the Orange Order on the same footing as me and anyone else who is opposed to parades taking place where they are not wanted.
There is no longer an Orange supremacy or ascendancy. I will no longer be treated as a second class citizen, whether the Orange Order marches past Ardoyne on the 12th or not.
What attachments there are to the Orders in many working class loyalist communities is fed as much, if not more so, by Nationalist /Republican resistance to an outdated notion of the power of the Orange orders as by the values associated with ‘the brethern’.
Without our resistance to the Orange Order what is left but an archaic tiger rendered toothless and represented by costumed men in quaint bowler hats. We may not like what we view as triumphalist coat trailing but what if we were to view this as what it really is - the last gasping breath of times gone by. Without the oxygen of our ‘being offended’ the fuel for those who wish to assert their authority over us is denied.
If we agree that the Orange Order is not worth the effort of our resistance then it is not.
Threats of violence or potential violence not only detract from what should be the key issue, Orange Parades, but it also allows many of the less progressive elements of Loyalism to don their yellow bibs and transform themselves into the peoples protectors and guardians of their culture, at least until they get past Ardoyne, Duncairn Gdns or Springfield Rd. Their credibility is firmly tied into our behaviour. We give a lifeline to those within Loyalism who are coming under pressure from within their own communities because of their links with criminal behaviour and gangsterism
Imagine the Crumlin Rd with people shopping oblivious to the marching bands, who holds the power?
The future, whatever it is, will be defined by those who are forward thinking and who seek new ways to deal with old problems. Reverting to old outdated thinking keeps us firmly grounded in the past and unable to move forward.
North Belfast Interface Network