Leading members of the Orange Order are to hold talks with Ian Paisley this
week amid growing speculation that it's planning to sever historical links
with the Ulster Unionist Party.
The meeting with the DUP leader - understood to be at the invitation of Mr
Paisley - will address the changing political climate in the wake of the
Assembly elections.
But we have learned that high on the agenda will be the growing demand from
many Orangemen for a quickie 'divorce' between Orangeism and the UUP.
For the past two-and-a-half years David Trimble's party has been involved
in drawing up a package of reforms designed to end the Order's influence
within the Ulster Unionist Council.
Order members have always held a block vote on constitutional and party
policy matters.
But now the 100,000-strong Order may decide to jump ship before being
pushed.
Such a move could not come at a worse time for Trimble and his embattled
UUP.
They have already lost the mantle as the main voice of unionism and are
haemorrhaging members almost weekly in the wake of Jeffery Donaldson's
defection to the DUP.
One senior Orange Order member, who asked not to be named, told us last
night: "Clearly there has been debate within the institution, as there has
within the UUP, over the link which goes back over a century.
"It would not be going too far to say there are now many Orangemen who are
openly questioning those roots.
"Ours is a broad church regarding membership of political parties and it is
one of the issues we will be discussing with Dr Paisley.
"At the moment the position remains as it is - and it would take a decision
by the Grand Orange Lodge to alter that."
In recent years the Order has taken an increasingly belligerent stance
against the Good Friday Agreement.
At Twelfth demonstrations across Ulster last year Orangemen slammed the
accord, claiming it had failed to remove violence and was 'incapable of
providing fair and just government'.
UUP chairman James Cooper re-ignited the simmering row over the link when
he accused the Order of dragging the party down.
He warned delegates at a UUP conference: "This party will die on its feet
unless we quickly modernise and reshape the membership rules."
But one Order source said last night: "I think many of our members are
weary of the UUP who have played the Orange card to their own advantage on
many occasions down through the years.
"Some Orangemen want to go it alone without any party affiliations while
others believe there should be closer links to the DUP in what would be
seen as a broad alignment of traditional unionism."
