Orange crisis drifts into farce
By Peadar Whelan
The mess that Orangeism has found itself in since the debacle of
this year's Drumcree violence - which peaked with the killings of
the three Quinn brothers in Ballymoney - struck an almost
farcical note last week with the suspension and then
reinstatement of `Brother' David Jones, spokesperson for the
Portadown Order.
Jones was suspended on Thursday 22 October after publicly
rejecting Robin Eames' plea to Orangemen when, during the Armagh
Diocesan Synod, Eames asked them not to break the law.
Among the three pledges that Eames asked of Orangemen was the
plea to avoid action before or after July's Drumcree service that
``diminishes the sanctity of worship'', and to show ``obedience to
the law... and respect for the integrity of the Church of
Ireland''.
However during a BBC interview `Brother' Jones deemed these basic
requests as something Orangemen ``would have difficulty with'' as
they don't accept, ``the authority of the Parades Commission''.
Jones rejected Eames' plea out of hand and as he was obviously
saying that he didn't accept the authority of Robin Eames either,
the Grand Master of the County Armagh organisation, Dennis Watson
moved to silence Jones by suspending him.
Watson maintained Jones had not been authorised to give the
interview although in his defence Jones says he tried to contact
Watson on four occasions to seek permission and anyway had been
cleared to speak to the BBC by district officers.
Watson had earlier stated that he could not envisage Orangemen
having difficulty with the Eames pledges.
Within 18 hours of his suspension Jones was reinstated after
Watson met with Portadown Orangemen at 8pm that same evening.
A joint statement issued by the Portadown District and Watson
shrugged off the events of the day, saying, ``a genuine
misunderstanding'' had arisen between Jones and Watson and the
matter was resolved.
Meanwhile Dr James Mehaffey, the Church of Ireland Bishop of
Derry and Raphoe has said the Orange Order must avoid another
``credibility damaging'' Drumcree.
Dr Mehaffey told his Diocesan Synod in Derry last week that
Orangemen must sign up to the Eames pledges before going on to
say: ``neither the Church of Ireland nor the Orange Order can wash
its hands and try to distance itself from any civil disorder
which may arise out of attendance at church services.''
The wisdom of Brother Jones
On the day the three Quinn children were being buried Jones
accused the ``security forces'' and paramilitaries of colluding to
launch the petrol bomb attack on the Quinn home.
``They (the security forces) have been in contact with members of
paramilitary groups and the paramilitary groups have set about
carrying out this petrol bombing. It was an excellent vehicle to
discredit the Orange Order by saying it was directly linked to
Drumcree,'' he said at the time.
Jones outraged unionists and the RUC when he said it would be
difficult for RUC officers to continue living in Protestant
areas. Jones warned the RUC about using ``excessive force'' against
loyalists and said they used plastic bullets ``indiscriminately''
against loyalists.
Following the death of RUC man Frankie O'Reilly, killed by a
loyalists blast bomb, Jones maintained, ``when you are standing up
for liberties sometimes the cost of those liberties can be very
high''.
Authority rejects ban on RUC Orangemen
A ban on members of the RUC holding dual membership of the RUC
and Orange Order or similar organisations has been rejected by
the Policing Authority.
This decision flies in the face of a recent British parliamentary
select committee report supporting such a ban.
Police Authority chairman Pat Armstrong said they debated the
issue with the RUC chief constable and the Police Federation but
despite being ``committed to supporting impartial policing'' felt
there was no reason to prevent dual membership ``if it does not
compromise the ability to act impartially and objectively''.
Armstrong said there was no reason to doubt the ``impartiality''
and ``integrity'' of the RUC and the Authority had ``consistently
defended its record''.
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