It would dominate the news for weeks in advance. You could feel and see the
tension build. Rows of barbed wire, trenches, soldiers with blackened
faces, police in riot gear, helicopters over-head.
Garvaghy Road residents could make a few quid, renting their homes to
journalists from across the world who had arrived in Portadown. How things
change. These days, the spirit has gone out of Drumcree.
Orangemen will gather at the pretty hilltop church on Sunday and the token
protest will take place. But the buzz of previous years has gone. Drumcree
is a damp squib.
Insiders acknowledge membership of the Portadown lodge has fallen by around
a third. There are deep divisions within the Orange Order. Confusion and
disillusionment have grown.
The situation symbolises the lack of leadership within unionism in recent
years. Sinn Féin would never have allowed the Garvaghy residents to drift
so aimlessly. Politically, the main difference between the communities is
the tight control in nationalist areas.
Initially, Drumcree made the Orange Order sexy again. Until the protest, its
ageing membership had increasingly appeared to be a beaten docket. Drumcree
gave it a new lease of life. It was the best thing to happen the Order in
years. Young men flocked to join.
The Order's stand touched a chord with Protestant grassroots. This was about
much more than a 30-minute march. The perception was that there'd been
enough appeasement of nationalism. It was time to reverse the trend.
But the momentum was halted with the horrific death of the Quinn children
and Billy Wright's removal from the scene - there was no longer a
charismatic paramilitary figure lurking in the background, threatening
mayhem.
The Order's failure to draw up a clear, credible strategy, and the
protestors ultimate lack of staying power, were also instrumental. There
wasn't the stomach for a tough, protracted battle. I remember watching
hundreds of protesters head home one year when it rained.
Every year, turnout falls further. The Order never completely decided what
form of protest it favoured - purely peaceful and law-abiding or more
confrontational and defiant. Did it want to bring Northern Ireland to a
standstill or not?
Rural Orangemen with their carefully furled umbrellas and Sunday suits
always mixed uneasily with the tattooed, ear-ringed brigade who preferred
drinking alcohol to singing hymns. The DUP's ascendancy is strengthening
unionist confidence, but Drumcree will never rise again.
