Comments on: Turning Orange marches into a tourist event

By: Diarmuid Moore

Diarmuid Moore — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 09:58:58 +0000

I welcome attempts to rebrand the 12th but like other contributors i am sceptical about the reality of this. i wonder if the order faces a fundemental issue in that they were founded as an anti catholic orgnaisation (or at least as a defender of protestantism) and the 12th is still a celebration of victory of one side over the other. It may be possible to turn it into an event that attracts foreign tourists but will it be acceptable to the catholic/nationalist community. Whilst the 12th remains a festival of one community it will always be a contentious event with all the problems that this entails.

By: Lewis Purser

Lewis Purser — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:21:46 +0000

Another good one Andy, thanks!

I have often compared in my mind the “Escalade” celebrations in Geneva (annually 11-12 December) which commemorate the successful defence of the Calvinist walled city against the attack led by the house of (Catholic) Savoy in 1602. It is the major annual event for the city of Geneva in terms of indigenous cultural and historical significance. There are fife bands and drums, cannon fire, marches, bonfires, songs, speeches, horses parades, re-enactments, all led by the descendants of the same families who were defending in 1602, but also involving all the “new” inhabitants of Geneva, most of whom are certainly not Calvinist and who now vastly outnumber the “old” inhabitants. The fife bands even play some of the same tunes as in the North (which we would recognize as the Protestant Boys, etc – an interesting piece of musico-cultural research for somebody to undertake…). And the main thing for children is the ubiquitous miniature chocolate cauldrons which all the chocolatiers produce, filled with marzipan vegetables, in commemoration of the cauldron of soup which an old grandmother is supposed to have poured out of her bedroom window on top of a Savoy soldier caught trying to scale her bit of the walls…

Anyhow, the tourists flock in from other (non-calvinist) parts of Switzerland, neighbouring France, even from Italy for this annual pre-Christmas event, usually under a starry sky, with all the stands and knickknacks one would associate with a fair of this sort. The weekend (usually the event is moved to the closest weekend) is filled out with a cross-city running race, a marathon race from beyond the current French border to the city walls along the route of the original night march of the Savoy forces, concerts, special exhibitions, a winter lake swim, etc etc.

Some ideas maybe for our cousins in the North….

By: wes holmes

wes holmes — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 21:33:46 +0000

When I was a boy growing up on the shankill Road in the fifties and sixties every adult male member of my extended family was in the Orange Order. Today, I literally do not know anyone who’s a member. It’s a really shrunken thing. The irony is that resistance to its ludicrous obsession with public displays gives it an inflated view of itself when it reality it’s a minority interest.

By: J. Shallist

J. Shallist — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 18:33:37 +0000

I personally feel that a good first step in this regard would be for the Orange Order, for the next generation or so, to organize marches such that they are routed though substantially unionist areas. I don’t believe anyone (or, anyone sensible) would object to the 12th on that basis. That is to say, I don’t object to my neighbour practicing his boxing in our common garden… what I object to his him dancing up and practicing his swings and jabs within a few inches of my face, and then claiming he has ever right to do so since it’s common space. He’s technically right, but there’s no getting around that in every practical sense this is NOT a respectful or neutral act. It’s unquestionably intended to be a provocation. And it’s hard to dress up a deliberate invitation to riot as a big tourist draw, I’m afraid.

By: Mel Mc Conville

Mel Mc Conville — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:55:02 +0000

Will the Orange Order bring the tourists to Ardoyne and show them its contribution to politically motivated violence due to its insistence in exercising triumphalism over a community which does not want them in the streets where they live. Is this the level of leadership that will encourage the Order to be accepted by all? Will the tourists be reminded of the fact that Portadown LOL apply to the Parades Commission for a march every Sunday to take place on the Garvaghy Road in Portadown and have done for a considerable number of years even on Christmas Day in 2005, during the season of peace and goodwill to all. Any organisation from whatever side should never be rewarded for making no contribution to peace and reconciliation least of all one with such a history of abject sectarianism.