History of The Orange Institution - in Northern Ireland

In Northern Ireland

The Orange Order had a central place in the new state of Northern Ireland. It acted as a basis for the unity of Protestants of all classes and as a mass social and political grouping. At its peak in 1965, the Order's membership was around 70,000, which meant that roughly 1 in 5 adult Protestant males were members.

It had very close ties to the ruling Unionist Party and the senior leadership of both frequently overlapped. Lord Craigavon said in 1934, "I am an Orangeman first and a politician and a member of parliament second." Membership of the Order was also useful in obtaining jobs and public housing. The Order's principal commemoration on the 12th of July was made a public holiday and in effect, Northern Ireland's national day.

The Orange Order began to lose influence in the 1960s, when it came into conflict with a movement towards modernization and a reduction in sectarianism led by Captain Terence O'Neill, the Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. Although the Order's leadership remained supportive of O'Neill as a fellow Orangeman, many rank and file members opposed his programme and his supporters suffered heckling at Orange Order events. One MP, George Forrest, was kicked unconscious by spectators at the 1967 Twelfth. Cabinet minister Phelim O'Neill quit the Order rather than have it discipline him over his attendance at a Catholic ceremony, becoming one of only four Stormont Cabinet ministers in history not to belong to the Order. The Order was also challenged from the other side by The Rev. Ian Paisley and his followers, who accused the Order of being insufficiently opposed to Catholicism, humanism and ecumenism. Since 1965, membership has gone into decline, notably in Belfast and Derry. There was a membership spike following the beginning of The Troubles, but most new members who signed up did not remain long.

The Order's political influence suffered greatly when the Unionist-dominated Stormont parliament was prorogued in 1972. Since then the Order has existed primarily as a pressure group, although many Ulster Unionist Party MPs and officials are members of the Order. The Order also suffered considerably in the Troubles, although the majority of murdered Orangemen were killed as members of the security forces rather than as Orangemen per se. Numerous Orange halls have been subject to arson and other vandalism, with some requiring heavy security and being uninsurable. As nationalists gained increased power within Northern Ireland, the Order became less able to parade along many of its traditional routes through Catholic neighbourhoods. This issue has led to considerable verbal and physical conflict both within the Order and between the Order and other groups, especially concerning the Drumcree conflict in Portadown.

Traditionally, the Orange Order was affiliated with the institutions of establishment Unionism: the Ulster Unionist Party and Church of Ireland. It had a fractious relationship with the Democratic Unionist Party, Protestant paramilitaries, Independent Orange Order, and the Free Presbyterian Church. The Order urged its members not to join these organisations, and it is only recently that some of these intra-Unionist breaches have been healed.

To this day, according to Tim Pat Coogan, Orangemen still overlook the Papal input to the creation of their icon William of Orange. However at least one Orange publication has mentioned the Pope's support for William, and so it would be wrong to assume that Orangemen in general are ignorant of the Pope's role.