Finally, Ireland has an Orange leadership that will listen to my advice about moving its parades to the Republic!
It's only taken the Order about two and a half years for the penny to drop with Grand Secretary Drew Nelson's intelligent speech to the Irish Senate.
In February 2010, I suggested that one way to solve the Northern parades debacle was for the Orange Order 'go south' and follow the excellent example of the annual Donegal dander at Rossnowlagh.
Judging by the size of this year's outing, an increasing number of Northern lodges and bands are attending the well-disciplined Rossnowlagh demonstration.
If Queen Bess can meet Marty McGuinness and Orange Drew can charm the Senate, then individual lodges should hold face to face talks with nationalist residents groups.
As someone who was a member of the Orange Order for more than 20 years, literally donning the sash my father wore, I fully appreciate the important role which the Order has in Unionism's cultural identity.
The Twelfth for us was not a coat-trailing exercise, but a huge family day out with relatives and friends.
The Order should consider voluntarily re-routing some of its more contentious Northern parades and seek to establish a system in the South.
Orange members should remember that much of King Billy's Irish campaign took place in what is now the Republic.
The key southern battles were the Boyne and Aughrim, while the important siege was not that at Derry, but those at Athlone, Limerick and Cork .
On paper, it does seem a bit daft that the Twelfth is commemorated in the North, while all the Order's history is mostly centred around action in the South.
Orange Drew placed great emphasis on how the Catholic minority is treated in the North compared to how the Protestant minority should be treated in the Republic.
Roll on the day when Orangefests are as much a part of the Southern calendar as they are in the North.
What's the point in the Order's ruling body calling itself the Grand Lodge of Ireland when it is really only active in about 11 of the island's 32 counties?
The year 2016 will be an important date in the Orange calendar – the centenary of the Battle of the Somme during World War One when thousands of Orangemen were killed or wounded during that bloody conflict.
The Order should set itself a target of establishing a county lodge in every Irish county by July, 2016 – the 100th anniversary of the opening day of the Somme .
And every July 13, around 60,000 people cram into the tiny Down village of Scarva for the annual Sham Fight hosted by the Orange 's senior Marching Order, the Black Institution.
If the Dublin government is genuine about wanting to look after its Protestant minority, the Dáil and Senate should push for a series of Sham Fights commemorations to be hosted at key Williamite campaign sites.
Ironically, this year's Sham Fight also coincides with the annual republican Tyrone Volunteers Day, officially launched by Dungannon and South Tyrone Sinn Féin Mayor Phelim Gildernew.
Timed to mark the 31st anniversary of the death of IRA hunger striker Martin Hurson, it also honours the 56 Provos and three Shinners from the county killed during the Troubles.
I wonder will Mayor Phelim make mention of the 336 members of the Order which Orange Drew says were also murdered during the conflict?
Makes you wonder what all these republican and Orange dead could have contributed to Irish society had they not died. More importantly, what sort of new Ireland did they die for?
