'Flagship' Twelfth at Portrush

The big day on Monday, July 12, will be the culmination of Coleraine Twelfth Festival which runs from Saturday, July 3 and includes street entertainment, a historical re-enactment and an Ulster-Scots concert.

The Twelfth celebrations in Coleraine in 2008 attracted 60,000 visitors to the town and it is expected that the crowds in Portrush this year will rival that number. Specially trained welcome hosts will be on hand throughout the day to answer queries from visitors.

During the week, an exhibition will be held in Coleraine Town Hall, giving an insight into the significant role the Orange Order has played in the development of the area.

It will feature many items of interest belonging to local lodges and bands, some dating back to the last 19th century. There will also be a wealth of information about Ulster-Scots culture.

The colourful pageant of the Twelfth will be led by King Billy on horse-back, accompanied by his foot soldiers, a junior William and Mary and the Ulster-Scots ship complete with 18th century emigrants.

Limavady district and City of Londonderry Grand Orange Lodge districts will approach Portrush via Gateside Road and leave their buses at Ballywillan, assembling facing Crocknamack Road.

Macosquin district along with Coleraine district will approach the town via Atlantic Road and leave their buses on the Coleraine Road. They will assemble facing Eglinton Street.

The main parade will start at 11.30am, led by Limavady District LOL No. 6, Grand Lodge and County Officers. The parade route will be Crocknamack Road, Eglinton Street, Kerr Street, Ramore street, Ramore Avenue, Landsdown Crescent, Causeway View Terrace, Main Street, Causeway Street, Crocknamack Road, Crocknamack Street, Girona Avenue, Apollo Avenue, Rathmore Drive, Hopefield Road and Magheraboy Road to the field.

The religious service and platform proceedings will begin at 2pm. One of the Grand Chaplains, Rev. Alistair Smyth will be the guest speaker.

The return parade will leave the field at 3.30pm, making its way along Magheraboy Road, Hopefield Road, Hopefield Avenue, Crocknamack Road to dispersal points on the Ballywillan Road and the Coleraine Road.

Portrush is one of five flagship demonstrations being organised by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland.

The other four locations are Hillsborough, Cookstown, Newtownstewart and Antrim with 18 demonstrations in total being held throughout the country.

The Orange Order Director of Services, Dr. David Hume explained:

"This is the fifth anniversary of our Twelfth Tourist Flagship programme and we believe that it has been a huge success, Those who apply for flagship status have to undergo a quite rigorous selection process and we believe that it is good for capacity building within the Institution, All of those involved put in a tremendous amount of work and are to be congratulated," he said.

"We know that more than half a million people enjoy the Twelfth and there is hard evidence that an increasing number of tourists are planning trips to Northern Ireland at that time of year so they can see the parades. Many people time their visit home to family and friends just to see the Twelfth.

"All of our parades are very important and we will be working with all the organisers to maximise the positive impact of the Twelfth parades. But Grand Lodge decided that we should put an extra special effort into five flagship demonstrations this year.

"The idea behind the Flagship Twelfths is to look at the demonstrations through the eyes of tourists. They will be professionally run events, organised to a high standard. We want to engage directly with tourists and visitors and make them feel welcome.

"Cultural tourism is a growing industry and we are determined that the Orange Order will play its part in developing this sector of business.

"The Orange Order has been working closely with the Northern Ireland Tourist Board and Tourism Ireland to attract more visitors to the province in July and we appreciate their input. We have built a strong relationship with the tourist authorities. They are the professionals in their world and we have listened to their advice so that we can enhance what is available to the public."