Irish Republican News · July 12, 2004

BBC criticised for promoting ‘Twelfth’

Sinn Féin has criticised the coverage of the Twelfth marches by the Orange Order by the BBC.

West Tyrone assembly member Barry McElduff called on the broadcaster to review its coverage, pointing out that it promoted an anti-Catholic ethos.

The BBC today broadcast its traditional live coverage of the Orange Order’s main demonstration in Belfast, and was to air a 40-minute programme of “highlights” tonight.

However, Mr McElduff claimed the programmes were a “sanitised and insulting spectacle”.

“The colour parties containing the logos and flags of the Catholic killer gangs are ignored, the anti-Catholic ethos of the Orange Order is passed over and the supremacist nature of the marching season as a whole isn’t mentioned,” he said.

“The BBC need to realise that they no longer live in the days when nationalists will accept second class citizenship. They will not accept public money being used by the BBC to promote unionism and promote an anti-Catholic organisation like the Orange Order.”

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