The Orange Order: Glengormley Mini-12th

Yesterday evening I attended one of the more controversial parades; the annual mini-12th in Glengormley. It was a bit of a departure for myself as my usual parading experience has predominantly been in the more rural parts of the country so this parade was a bit of an eye-opener for me in many ways. First of all I think a bit of background to the situation in Glengormley is required. The Orange arch was erected in the town last week and it the past few days it was attacked and had been defaced with graffiti consisting of slogans such as 'CIRA'. In the past years this parade has been targeted by protesters, orchestrated by the late Sinn Fein representative Martin Meehan, and most disgustingly accumulated in bottles of urine being thrown at a junior orange parade 2 years previously. With the rise in tensions either side of the divide it was a circular exercise in increasing community tensions; the more tension the more violent protesters turned up and the more hardline the orange clinger-ons became. A recipe for disaster.

Onto this year. The turn out by the Orange and bands was pretty good and I was informed it was a lesser turn out than in previous years (hopefully a sign of decreasing tension + Euro 2008 + weather). The bands were a bit more 'blood & thunder' than my usual taste but credit to them they handled themselves very well. It must always be remembered that the majority of lodges do not have bands of their own and must invite bands to take part, much of the negative press from parades is the behavior of bandsmen; and it has been handled delicately over the years and for all intensive purposes appears to be working.

What took me by surprise at this parade was the amount of clingers-on, or as a friend put it, the blue-bag brigade. There was a lot of teenagers out drinking on the street and walking along the footpath following the procession through the parade route. Here is where the problem lies; this people are not guided by the by-laws and etiquette of the Orange Order or regulated by the bands. This is a policing matter, and the PSNI handled it superbly. The PSNI confiscated any alcohol opened or otherwise from these so-called supporters, and it was a no-nonsense appraoch. I have been informed that this is the practice that will apply throughout the marching season and touch-wood it continues in the same manner. My experience also is that very few onlookers follow a parade; they usually pick a position and watch it go by - I do not for the life of me understand following the parade.

The protest. A republican protest was held and I was told in attendance was North Belfast Sinn Fein MLA Carál Ní Chuilín (I missed her but she was described as the Shinner with crazy hair) which keeps up the tradition of Sinn Fein backed protest. Fortunately there was no urine-bombs thrown this year just some posturing from the cling-ons and the protesters. The Orange marshalls did well here in making sure all the cling-ons were moved on and not allowed to stop (which a few wanted to do). A bebo page has been created in opposition to the arch and march here. It seems to make light of the fact that there had been a bomb hoax in the days leading up to the march and the manifestation of the protest over the years - but what can you expect from young people who have been brainwashed by the republicans (and loyalists) over the years.

The parade ended in the usual fashion, which is the national anthem. The talk afterwards was mainly of the protest with one Bro. saying to me: "You know, we were told the 'war is over', from what I see the war has just shifted battlefields".

(I will keep an eye out for news updates on this one)

Update: Here is a link from the Newtownabbey Times reporting on the parade.
Update 2: Here is another story from the Newtownabbey Times on the sectarian vandalism that Glengormley suffered over the weekend.