ORANGE ORDER URGED TO TALK TO RESIDENTS

FOLLOWING a major talks initiative on contentious parades in Londonderry between the protestant Royal Black Institution and the nationalist Bogside Residents Group, the Orange Order have come under increasing pressure to follow suit and enter into direct dialogue with representatives of nationalist residents.

With 1600 extra troops drafted into the province to cope with yet another Drumcree standoff on July 8, the Orange Order’s leadership were urged to meet their opponents and try to hammer out an acceptable to both sides.

The call came from William Hay, a Royal Black Institution (RBI) member, one of the delegates who successfully met with the Bogside Residents in Londonderry. Following the meeting earlier this week, the first in which the RBI had formally met with a residents’ group, the residents said they would not oppose a RBI parade at the end of August.

Mr Hay, who is a member of the Democratic Unionist Party, an Orangeman, and a member of the Apprentice Boys, said it was time the Orange leadership adopted a new strategy. He said: “You’ve got to be involved in a process you are comfortable with and which you are more or less controlling. That is where the Orangemen need to be looking too. They need to be involved in a process that allows them to deliver for their organisation, because as I keep on saying, you can’t stand at the door and shout in. You have to be in there defending your rights. You cannot allow anybody else to defend your rights.”

The Orange Order has a policy of non-engagement with any residents’ groups because of their alleged republican bias and links or the Northern Ireland parades Commission.

The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland’s grand secretary Denis Watson said it was wrong to say that they had declined to find a solution. He said that the order was quite prepared to talk to anyone who had any genuine grievances. He said: “We feel very sorry for the many, many nationalist residents, because we know they want to talk directly to us. If only they could get the hardliners out of the way we could open up proper dialogue.” (AMcE)