Don’t call a spade a shovel

By Micheál Choilm Mac Giolla Easbuig (for the Pensive Quill)

It is difficult to tell whether certain sections of society in the 26 counties are naïve, disingenuous or deliberately intent on deceiving the public in relation to the nature and purpose of the Orange Order.

Patrick Costello TD, a Green Party member of the Good Friday Agreement Oireachtas Committee, has called on the government to legislate for the 12th of July to become a public holiday in the Free State. While here in Dún na nGall, the Orange parade is welcomed uncritically, apparently because it proceeds peacefully rather than due to any amending of its toxic core ideology.

The Orange Order may claim to be a defender of the Reformation, interested only in protecting religious freedom. In reality the evidence points towards something entirely different. Something that is deeply intolerant, profoundly offensive and at base, advocates Protestant supremacy.

Think for a start of the proliferation of bonfires festooned with photographs of political parties and politicians, Irish tricolour flags and other sectarian bric-a-brac. Reflect then on the repertoire of nasty and offensive music and songs. The most recent addition to the collection being a scurrilous song sneering at the murder of a young Catholic woman on her honeymoon. Consider finally the renewed attempt to march down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. In a town that is predominantly Unionist, demanding to parade through the only nationalist street in the borough sends an ominous message to the residents of the beleaguered area. A message that reeks of a desire to reassert supremacy and domination.

No, the Orange Order is not at heart a benevolent institution, notwithstanding the fact that many of its members are decent, hard-working and inoffensive. The fact that the Order tolerates, facilitates and accommodates the objectionable and obnoxious behaviour and beliefs of many within its ranks renders it as an institution, a pariah. Refusing to identify this reality or to pretend that the Orange Order is merely a fun loving and benevolent institution risks turning a blind eye or worse, to tolerate something profoundly undemocratic. Doing so would create a benchmark for reactionaries that could only endanger our entire society.

Let’s call a spade a spade and spare us all from such a bleak scenario.

Urgent Appeal