Another twelfth of July, another week of mayhem and infamy.
Elsewhere in this paper we recall the New York riots of 1870/71 when some 60 people were killed in bloody disturbances arising from the Orange Order's decision to march through the streets of that city. The story is a not a dry historical fact for the history books and academics, but a telling reminder that, despite what the Orange Order claims, violence surrounding Orange events is not a Sinn Féin-inspired development of recent times, but rather the grim continuance of hundreds of years of disorder and chaos.
There is, of course, blame attached to all sides for the depressing scenes that we witnessed at Ardoyne shops on Tuesday night. Nationalists were culpable of launching attacks on the PSNI and on the marchers and their followers.
Dissident republicans launched blast bomb attacks on the PSNI in a cynical and futile attempt to convince local people that they are willing and able to be their protectors. The PSNI again waded into Ardoyne with fangs bared, batons drawn and plastic bullets firing – the only difference between this week and 1969 is that they have better weapons and more armour.
But the blame for the Ardoyne impasse – not part of the blame, the entire blame – lies with the Orange Order and their continued insistence on marching where they are not wanted and without entering into dialogue with local people. All the rest – the inquest into the street unrest, the debate about who did what – is merely a distraction from the central reality that so long as Orangemen continue to insist on acts of coat-trailing and humiliation then there is going to be trouble. The only question is, how much?
The Order and its apologists claim that the road going past the shops is a main thoroughfare and brethren are perfectly entitled to walk it if they want. This brings to mind the analogy of someone insisting on the right to free speech then going into a crowded theatre and shouting 'fire!'. We might also legitimately ask when was the last time any of the marchers took their dog for a walk along that stretch of road or when they ever called into Ardoyne shops for a pint of milk.
If the right to walk were indeed carved in stone or an inviolable right of every citizen – which it is not – is that to say that we are to ignore realities and just walk where and when we please? Clearly, that way madness lies, and madness is exactly what we are seeing every time the Orange Order tells the people of Ardoyne that they are an underclass not worthy of consultation or even acknowledgment.
We are not asking for a blanket ban on Orange marches of the kind that the Orangemen's much-missed Stormont regime imposed in 1971. But we are demanding that the Parades Commission tell the Orange Order in no uncertain terms that when it comes to contentious parades they will no longer be rewarded for their refusal to engage.
