Sir, - Sadly, some in the Orange Order have fallen to the dizzying depths of Sinn Fein/IRA. The Order's calls for protests have led to the intimidation of Protestants similar to that faced by Roman Catholics from Sinn Fein/IRA over the past 30 years. And even though the order is not directly responsible for all the disturbances of recent days, it has certainly proven that it is much more aware of its rights due from society, than its responsibilities to it.
It does not take a university education to understand that Harold Gracey's call for 100,000 loyalists to get out onto the streets would descend into violence, chaos and public disorder. One's duty in calling for such action does not end in simply saying that the protests should be peaceful. One has to be sure that one can physically ensure that this is the case. If the order does not have the capacity to oversee in sufficient numbers that these protests are peaceful then it is grossly irresponsible in allowing one of its lodges to call for them.
Then came David Jones's banal response to the inevitable rioting. He declared that violence was unacceptable, but that the Portadown Lodge welcomed support from any quarter. Does one need to be an Orangeman to think it possible to condemn violent factions inextricably linked to one's own protest and at the same time welcome action from any quarter?
If any proof were required of the Orange spokesmen's ineptness, it can be found in its media interviews. On Newsnight last week Jeremy Paxman barely spoke but still made Denis Watson look very silly. Asked repeatedly if he would rather Johnny Adair had not appeared at Drumcree, Mr Watson became so flustered that one might have imagined he had been asked a difficult question. He then became defensive in a manner reminiscent of the Prime Minister. As usual he wished that the protests were peaceful, but crucially refused to say he wished Johnny Adair had stayed away from Drumcree.
The Orange Order faces a crisis. It calls itself an "order" yet recent declarations by its spokesmen have made Northern Ireland famous for disorder. It wants a dignified protest, but the uncontrolled activities carried out in its name are far from dignified and carried out by the most undignified people in society. The institution once epitomised by well dressed, proud Ulstermen in bowler hats, Orange sashes, and temperance bands playing religious hymns is flirting with terrorists and brainless thugs who have absolutely no regard for the traditions of the order or those of British society.
I am not a member of the order, but have hitherto believed it to be an institution whose preservation as part of the British community of Northern Ireland was worthwhile. In recent years the whole idea of British Ulster itself seems to have evaporated - not as a result of some republican plot, but because of the encroachment of loyalist terrorist gangs into areas where they are not welcome. The Northern Ireland flag and the Union Jack fly forlornly among the flags of every fascist loyalist terror machine which has ever managed to murder a Catholic.
It would have been a service to Northern Ireland if the order had stood out against this pollution of the pro-union community. Instead it has allowed itself to become embroiled in the attempt to turn Northern Ireland from being a British state to being a mafia state. The current events do nothing for British culture. They do nothing for Protestantism. And they certainly do nothing for Christianity. Just because some clever minister in the order has found some bit in the bible which refers to a hill and a valley does not mean he would approve of the public disorder being orchestrated in support of the Drumcree parade.
The Orange Order might do well to take note of the FIFA decision on the venue of the 2006 World Cup. A minority of English football hooligans have constantly destroyed the opportunity for all of us in the United Kingdom to attend World Cup matches in our own country. If the order continues to allow itself to be linked with terrorists, then the cause of the Union itself, never mind the Orange Order, is in real danger. - Yours, etc.,
Alan James Greer, East Antrim Conservative Association Chairman, Cogry Road, Doagh, Co Antrim.