[Marxism] "A family friendly, fully-inclusive "Orangefest"....?!

["James Daly" <james.irldaly@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

A few years ago three children were burned alive in their beds on 11
July by Orangemen as a "protest" against not being allowed to march
the next day down a Catholic ghetto road in "the [loyalist] murder
triangle" town of Portadown. There are 3000 Orange marches every year
in the six counties. The orange calendar is said to read "January,
February, March, March, March..." These marches are said to be
"religious services" but they commemorate conquest in battle, use war
drums, and are punctuated by aggressive banners often commemorating
well-known death squad murderers. When they marched down the Ormeau
road in Belfast they waved five fingers and chanted "Five-Nil!" as
they passed a shop where five working-class catholics had been
murdered with machine guns. The British minister responsible for both
the six counties and Wales (!) was "disappointed" when two Orange
leaders (one from Portadown) whom he had nominated to the Parades
Commission set up to monitor the routes of marches, were removed by a
court ruling -- and he had them reinstated. Sinn Fein has to be
moderate in its criticisms because of its present policy of wooing the
Paisleyites.

***********************

ORANGE ORDER TO RECEIVE GOVERNMENT CASH

The government is to spend £104,000 to help the Orange Order in
Belfast develop the Twelfth of July as a major tourism event.
It said it was disappointed that those who did not feel comfortable
with parades would abandon the city centre during the marching season.

The money, to be paid over three years, will fund a development
officer who will promote the day as a festival.

It is hoped it will become a family friendly, fully-inclusive
"Orangefest".

Social Development Minister David Hanson said he hoped the money would
help to regenerate Belfast.

"There are very many negative perceptions about the Orange Order and
the Parading Season - I understand why those are the case," he said.

"What we are trying to do over this three-year period is to help
support the Order to mitigate against those negative perceptions - to
talk to shopkeepers, to talk to local residents groups and assist
with, I hope, the promotion of the city of Belfast."

Sinn Fein assembly member Alex Maskey, a former lord mayor of Belfast,
criticised the funding move.
"This is entirely the wrong decision. It is unacceptable that the
British government should fund an organisation which continues to
force its anti-Catholic parades through Catholic areas," he said.

"The Twelth of July for many nationalists in Belfast represents
domination and sectarian violence."

However, Orangeman William Humphrey, who is vice-chair of the Belfast
County Grand Master's Advisory Committee, said there was "huge
potential" to develop the Twelfth parades to bring in visitors.

"This is one of the largest tourist attractions in Northern Ireland
and one of the largest festivals in western Europe," he said.

"The (Orange) Institution is interested in the civic life of this
city, because we are key stakeholders in it, with thousands of members
and tens of thousands of supporters.

"It is in our interest that Belfast is a success story."

The author of the Lonely Planet Tourist Guide to Ireland, Fionn
Davenport, said those hoping to make the Twelfth a tourist magnet
would face an uphill struggle.

"It's not very inviting or inclusive and I think that's the general
impression," he said.

"Rightly or wrongly, it's seen as a militaristic expression with none
of the criteria of a happy friendly carnival day out."

The Orange Order is the largest Protestant organisation in Northern
Ireland with at least 75,000 members, some of them in the Republic of
Ireland.

Its origins date from the 17th century battle for supremacy between
Protestantism and Catholicism. Prince William of Orange, originally of
the Netherlands, led the fight against Catholic King James.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/5131470.stm

Published: 2006/06/30 07:45:33 GMT

© BBC MMVI



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