County Grand Master is critical of the Parades Commision

He began by condemning the men of violence, saying: “Over the last year we have witnessed the continuing murderous republican campaign against the security forces. Their ongoing campaign of destroying Orange Halls and their unremitting opposition to Loyal Order and band parades. Their ongoing strategy to remove anything with a British connection from government and public buildings.

“They have no interest in the rule of law, nor giving up those who are responsible for some of the most heinous crimes of the past or those responsible for the continuing destruction of our Orange Halls. This is particularly evident when it comes to their parades. They don’t submit the relevant forms and they openly display republican paramilitary paraphernalia,” he said, adding:

Responsibilities

Turning to the Parades Commission, he said: “This unelected, unrepresentative...quango, which costs the taxpayer £2 million annually, continues to refuse the Loyal Orders and bands to parade along their traditional routes. They have even the audacity to dictate to this Institution which hymn tunes they can or cannot play. Peter Osborne would wish that representatives from the Orange Institution would go along and talk to the commission. What would be the point?”

He said a prime factor in whether parades were allowed to go ahead was the fear of republican violence, adding:

“We have seen recently in Enniskillen and Ballyclare the PSNI tearing down the Union Flag the flag of the United Kingdom.

“But they refuse to remove republican paramilitary flags or symbolism and the tricolour when requested.

“In recent days and weeks we have witnessed the frustration within the protestant community boiling over in street disturbances. This has led to opportunistic republicans who have remained armed taking advantage of the situation in a bid to murder people. Strangely, the PSNI was able to identify that it was republicans who shot the photographer in East Belfast.

“We have heard in recent days that a full inventory of decommissioned weapons will not be released by the International Decommissioning Body.

“A cynical mind would almost reach the conclusion that all of the Provisional IRA weapons have not been decommissioned and some are still in circulation. Otherwise how could the PSNI have identified republicans for being responsible for the shooting in East Belfast so rapidly?” he asked.

Claiming that Protestant people were subjected to ‘ethnic cleansing’ Mr Duddy continued: “This disparity in the treatment of the Protestant community should no longer be tolerated. It is time for the liberal minded within the Protestant community to waken up to what is going on around them.

“Whether they like it or not it is going to impact on them at some stage in the future. If they need specific examples; in many parts of Ulster the events of 1641 still resonate and are remembered.

“The ethnic cleansing of Protestants in the South of Ireland after partition and in more recent times the ethnic cleansing of Protestants along the border counties in Ulster.

Identity

“There are those who go out of their way to be offended by our British identity and protestant culture.

“The sight of the Union Flag which was displayed in Limavady Borough Council Chamber was treated with absolute intolerance and contempt.

“The silence of the East Londonderry SDLP MLA regarding McGlinchey’s appointment as mayor is deafening, given that he is very vociferous when it comes to anyone from the loyalist community being appointed or elected to any position.

“This is the party which shouts about a ‘shared future’ but the question they need to answer is who do they want to share the future with?

“It’s most certainly not anyone from the Protestant community.

“Grand Master, brethren, sisters, ladies and gentlemen it is time we united as a community to put the ‘no’ back in front of ‘surrender’ and display the same tenacity to maintain our civil and religious liberties as those who are intent on destroying what we cherish and stop worrying about offending those who wish to destroy our Protestant and British heritage,” the County Grand Master said.