Orange Walk - Controversy

Controversy

Throughout the history of the Orange Order, Orange walks have faced opposition, generally from Catholics and nationalists, who feel that the parades are sectarian and triumphalist. Although many nationalists find the parades offensive wherever they take place, conflict usually only arises when a walk passes through or near a Catholic-dominated area. During The Troubles many marchers were verbally abused or had things thrown at them. The marching season required high levels of police involvement to prevent major outbreaks of violence, and as a result parading was banned in the region on several occasions in the early 1970s, although the ban was never in place on the 12th of July.

Currently, of the more than 2000 annual parades in Northern Ireland, only a handful are considered contentious. The best known of these is the Drumcree conflict. The Drumcree area, near Portadown has a history of parading disputes going back to the nineteenth century, and the current dispute centres on the refusal of the Parades Commission to allow the Portadown lodge through the Catholic Garvaghy Road during their annual celebrations in early July. The conflict led to severe rioting in the late 1990s, but the area has been relatively calm in recent years.

Parade opponents in Drumcree and elsewhere put forward several arguments against the parades: that they are sectarian regardless of their route, as they celebrate the defeat of Irish Catholicism; that when they go through Catholic areas this is particularly insulting and triumphalist; and that regardless of their content they cause serious inconvenience to residents as roads must be closed and, in particularly contentious areas, access to the roads denied. One observer has argued that the Orange Institution and its numerous demonstrations of strength effectively deny Nationalists and Catholics their basic human rights. The Orange Order and its supporters counter that the parades are not sectarian and that any sectarian activity and violence is perpetuated by outsiders and 'hangers-on' who the Order has no control over; that inconvenience is mostly caused by the need for police to protect marchers from the violence of their opponents; and that the disputes are not actually about parading at all but are a way for republicans to attack Protestantism. They also argue that there is a fundamental 'right to march' and that any group should be able to walk down 'the Queen's highway' without interference. In practice, however, the Order has tended to oppose marches by republicans and other 'disloyal' groups on the grounds that there is no right to parade sedition. The Order has a policy of non-negotiation with residents' groups as it believes that these are dominated by Sinn Féin and do not represent the actual opinions of residents.

In a 2011 survey of Orangemen throughout Northern Ireland, 58% of Orangemen said they should be allowed to march through nationalist areas with no restrictions; 20% said they should negotiate with residents first.