Nationalists in Cookstown are gearing up for a celebration of Orangeism funded by the nationalist-controlled council while West Belfast MLA hopeful Cllr Michael Ferguson has his monkey suit ordered for what’s being billed as a celebration of Ulster Culture in Lisburn.
So we can expect some reciprocity from the Orangemen then as the marching season strengthens its vice-life grip on life here? Not a chance.
Instead, bellicose Orangemen with a crew of likely lads and lasses in tow are looking forward to their annual excursion through the Catholic section of the Springfield Road.
Truth be told, this parade would lose its holy place in the Orange marching calendar were participants to be confined to areas in which their writ runs.
And it’s not that nationalists want Orangemen to give up their marching gigs. Simply, that they’d like to talk about the planned marches and work out a resolution which protects the right to march AND the right of host communities to live free from harassment.
In short, nationalists are willing to live and let live but unionists are determined to march all the way back to 1690.
In light of the upheaval and distress which nationalist residents of the Springfield Road are set to endure on Saturday, it’s fair to ask unionist leaders if they understand that everything has changed since that day almost ten years ago when the IRA laid down its weapons.
Nationalists understand that, and are making hay while they can.
Orangemen on the other hand want to stick at Year Zero. ‘No talks’ is their message to Catholic residents even after years in which their political masters — and remember the Orange Order is an integral part of the UUP — have been sharing power with Fenians.
Whatever about the glacial pace of change within the Orange Order, this much is clear:
Law-abiding nationalists have a right not to be hemmed into their homes and exposed to the worst excesses of Orange marchers in this day and age.
It’s not that long ago since this march was forced through nationalist areas to the sound of loyalist grenades.
This year again, the threats have been flying from loyalists who incredibly have been given the green light to march past Catholic homes by the Parades Commission.
Violence at Saturday’s march would play into the hands of the Orange Order and should be avoided at all costs. No doubt, there are those within the PSNI who would like to use this event to batter nationalist residents and their elected representatives but it’s up to Hugh Orde to ensure his men don’t repeat the type of attack at a previous Springfield Road stand-off which left Sinn Féin negotiator Gerry Kelly needing hospital treatment.
For a few hours on Saturday, unionism will take time out from its internal feeding frenzy to unite for what it does best: poking nationalists in the eye with an Orange stick.
It’s to be hoped that when the squabbling subsides within unionism that someone will emerge from their ranks who will embrace a future where Orangemen can celebrate their culture without feeling obliged to rub nationalist noses in the dirt. Such a day will only come, of course, when unionists grow up.
Unfortunately, if the childish rants of Jeffrey Donaldson are to be taken as an indicator of how amenable to change unionism really is, there’s no sign of that happening any time soon.
