Ulster: sell out goes on
July* being the marching season in Ulster, it is customary for us to be prepared for renewed wails from the Guardian-reading classes against Ulster loyalists who have the impertinence, in these politically correct times, to wish to enact their centuries-old traditions.
As was the case last year (1996), the focal point of controversy was the Garvaghy Road district of Portadown, where Orange marchers planned to parade through a predominantly catholic area. Informed people know that the march along this route has historical roots extending far further back than those of the local catholic inhabitants. Yet the familiar cacophony of protest sounded forth that the 'triumphalism' (how lefties and liberals love to use that word!) of the Orangemen would be a 'provocation' (another thoroughly PC word) to the local people and therefore bound to result in violence and disorder.
The obvious answer to this is that those Catholics in the area who had no enthusiasm for the march were under no obligation to witness it; they could simply turn their backs, switch on their TV sets or do whatever else served to distract them from the event. Probably that is what the vast majority of them were ready to do.
But a militant republican minority, mainly recruited from outside the area, was determined not to let the parade pass peacefully. They mobilised their forces as near to the march route as they could get, and prepared to create mayhem when the Orangemen passed by.
New Labour Northern Ireland Secretary Mo Mowlem had hoped to ban the Orange march but she was persuaded by the R.U.C, after consultation with loyalist leaders, that to do so would result in far more disorder than were the event to go ahead.
Due to a strong presence of R.U.C and army, order on the day was preserved and republican agitation relatively ineffective. The troublemakers were efficiently separated from the marchers, and the latter proceeded in dignified and well-disciplined formation along their way. However, violence subsequently broke out in a number of republican areas of the province immediately following, all of it instigated by Fenian groups.
Yet the reaction of the 'liberal' media afterwards was to make no distinction between those observing the law and those bent on breaking it. One front-page report in The Independent (7th July 1997) was headed 'Marchers trample peace hopes' - as if it were the Orangemen and loyalists, and not the hooligans on the republican side, who were responsible for the trouble! Another report inside spoke of 'Balancing two evils'.
All this, needless to say, was sweet music to the terrorists, who organised further disturbances throughout Ulster over the following few days leading up to the next scheduled parades on July 12th (1997). The Government, predictably, panicked and capitulated to the republican terrorists. Reversing its decision the previous weekend to allow the Portadown march, it put every possible pressure on loyalist leaders to cancel or re-route the marches planned for the week later. The weaker elements among the loyalists relented and cancelled march arrangements in five flashpoint areas - much to the disgust of their firmer colleagues, who quite rightly condemned the change-of-plan as a surrender to violence.
Some idea of the flavour of this decision can be gauged from the fact that it was greeted with undisguised pleasure and triumph by Gerry Adams, who proclaimed: "The door is now open to new peace moves after the Orange Order's decision to cancel or re-route marches…"
All in all, this was just another example of British Government, by a policy of weakness and appeasement, sending out the message to Sinn Fein/I.R.A and their allies that violence and terror pay. This same Government protests that it is dedicated to the 'peace process' in Ulster, yet ensures always to make peace impossible by rewarding those terrorists with further concessions after every new bout of rioting and murder.
* Although this article was originally published over two years old, it still accurately describes New Labour's appeasement of Republican terrorism and the British media's vilification of the loyalist majority.
Webmaster's note: This article was originally published in 'Spearhead' magazine No.342, August 1997.
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