Trying to Making the Marching Season peaceful (8th -sept - 1999)

In the on-going disputes about Orange marches it often seems that both sides still see only their own point of view. Nationalists in the areas of the marches see only "Sectarian Marches" and their right to be free of them and the marchers themselves see only expressions of culture and their right to celebrate their culture.

Principles are involved on both sides and it might make solving the practical problems of reaching agreement easier if both sides faced up to these principles.

It would probably ease protestant suspicions about the intentions of resident's groups if these groups were to state publically that it is not celebrations of culture that they object to but (as they see it) the attendent sectarianism, attempted intimidation, violence, militaristic exhibitions of supremacist attitudes etc and if they could see that a march was purely a celebration of culture like a music festival/marching bands competition etc, then, in the spirit of toleration, that they would not object to the march taking place. At present it seems that marchers cannot really understand what the objections are and believe that the resident's groups are solely intent on suppressing their culture.- it should be made clearer to them what exactly is objectionable. In other words, resident's should make it clearer that they would be prepared to drop their objections to marches if they could see that these marches WERE purely celebrations of culture, as the marchers themselves claim. Resident's groups need to state that they see that thee is an aspect of the marches that IS purely a celebration of protestant culture and that they understand that this celebration of culture is important to the vast majority of the marchers.

At present it seems to many nationalist that the desire of the Orange Order is to have total freedom to march where they want, irrespective of their behaviour on these marches and regardless of the feelings of local people . It seems to many that their desire to march through contentious ares is motivated solely by a desire to show local nationalists "who is the boss". It would probably ease nationalist suspicions and soften their attitudes if the Orange Order were to publically state that it accepts that a march through a contentious area should not go ahead if it was sectarion/intent on intimidating local nationalist/showing local nationalists "who was boss"/inciting anti-catholic violence etc. In other words, the Orange Order should itself state they need for their marches through contentious areas to be free of what local nationalists see as their negative aspects. On another note, it seems that there is a need to educate nationalists in contentious areas about how the members of the Loyal Orders see their own culture.It only seems wise that if your are marching near contentious areas that you would want people who might be opposed to your marching through misunderstanding to properly understand what your marches are about.

The Orange Order has a job to do here to convince nationalists of the present nature of the Order as nationalists will have long memories of how the order behaved in the past. However, bitterness exists on both sides and nationalists also need to demonstrate a willingness to tolerate celebrations of protestant culture , if these are positive celebrations.

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