The hatred recently on show at the Dundonald Orange hall is not anything new, in fact it has been there throughout its entire existence and is deeply ingrained in the very foundations of the Orange Order. Some may dismiss these actions as merely being the actions of a ‘few bad apples’ or a one-off occasion where too much drink led to some incredibly hurtful and distasteful behaviour. However, when you factor in that it has been over a decade since Michaela McAreavey was tragically murdered, then what really are the chances this was a one-off occasion? It is blatantly obvious that many depraved characters have learnt it and sung it multiple times. Which begs the question: why are we only hearing apologies for it now? Likely this has been going on for many years but only now – conveniently after being caught on film – are we hearing the slightest bit of remorse.
Of course, it should not be overly surprising that an institution which bans members from even marrying Catholics –let alone having Catholic members – is rife with sectarianism. Whereas republicans – which by their very definition oppose monarchy – are prepared to reach out and congratulate the British Queen (from Germany) on her jubilee in the name of tolerance, large swathes of the loyalist community cannot even uphold one of the nominal core values of the Orange Order I.e., religious tolerance and respect. I would like to think the Orange Order are not representative of the wider Unionist community – some of whom I consider friends despite our fundamental differences . However when I look at the 346,180 combined votes for parties heavily influenced by the Orange Order I.e., DUP, UUP and TUV, I cannot help but become dismayed. It is worth remembering that from 1921 to 1969, every Prime Minister of the statelet belonged to both the ‘moderate’ UUP and Orange Order.
Nowadays, over a hundred years into the failed existence of ‘Northern Ireland’ our governance is still heavily influenced by imbibers of the Orange Order’s ideology. Orangeman Jeffrey Donaldson is ensuring we cannot have a government because just like any other ideologue he is incapable of compromise. So, it is becoming increasingly obvious that an alternative is needed. Many from a traditional unionist background are turning to Alliance and other ‘non-designated’ parties which I absolutely commend, though I cannot help but feel it is a stopgap measure. As much talk is being made of Alliance’s recent electoral success, it is worth pointing out that they still only attained 13.5% of the total vote. Even in the unlikely event of dramatically increasing their vote share in the next election to the extent they become the second largest party, we would still need a change to the consociational arrangement for them to form a government and in turn eliminate the uncompromisable unionist veto.
Instead, there is a solution seldom mentioned outside of nationalist circles I.e., United Ireland. When the historical abomination of partition took place, one jurisdiction learned to eventually mature and become more socially progressive – having a gay former Taoiseach with Indian heritage nicely illustrates this. The other jurisdiction, however, continued to be ruled by bigots who to this day will abuse, and wield (as an unelected Unionist spokesperson recently put it) their veto, unless we undemocratically bow to their demands. As Einstein once said, ‘‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results’’ ; so if the statelet has failed for over a hundred years and continues to fail even 24 years after the GFA, then why should we expect it to eventually start working? Instead, let us consider the words of Wolfe Tone and focus on creating a new Ireland that unites Protestant, Catholic and Dissenter.
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