APPENDIX 1
Memorandum submitted by Mr Christopher
Luke
I understand that Members of the Northern Ireland
Affairs Select Committee are about to investigate the Northern
Ireland Parades Commission, and wish to submit the following evidence.
May I firstly appeal to Committee Members to
take time to read the booklet The Order On Parade by Graham Montgomery
& Richard Whitten (published by the Grand Orange Lodge of
Ireland Education Committee and available from the House of Orange,
65 Dublin Road, Belfast, BT2 7HE) as background information to
their investigation: the Apprentice Boys of Derry and British
Commonwealth Royal Black Institution parade for similar reasons
to those proffered by Messrs Montgomery and Whitten as to why
the Orange Order demonstrates. I would further recommend that
they read the booklet Let The Orange Banners Speak by Pastor Alan
Campbell (published by, and available from, Open-Bible Ministries,
P.O. Box 92, Belfast, BT5 7SA) and The Faithful Tribe: An Intimate
Protrait of the Loyal Institutions by Dublin-born Roman Catholic
author Ruth Dudley-Edwards (published by Harper Collins Publishers,
and available from all good booksellers).
Secondly, as a Member of both the British Commonwealth
Royal Black Institution and the Loyal Orange Institution of England
who frequently participate in parades in Northern Ireland, one
cannot help feeling how ironic it is that townies are to be given
"the right to roam" over privately-owned rural land
in England and Wales—under proposals contained in the Countryside
and Rights of Way Bill [now before Parliament]—when Members
of the Loyal Orders (ie, The Apprentice Boys of Derry, British
Commonwealth Royal Black Institution and the Loyal Orange Institution)
are simultaneously being denied the right to walk public roads
and highways in many parts of Northern Ireland, thanks to the
dictates of the Parades Commission.
There are four points to be made here:—
(I). There is deep suspicion in Northern Ireland—particularly
in Pro-Union circles—that the Parades Commission was established
to face down the Loyal Orders who, over the years, have provided
a valuable role in maintaining the rule of law within the Protestant
Community and providing valuable training for many individuals
in the administration of community affairs/events and representation
of local communities in the absence of meaningful local government.
[The Committee will, no doubt, be aware that the powers and responsibilites
of the Province's 26 local authorities rarely exceed those of
largely impotent English Parish Councils, and that successive
UK Government attempts to re-establish devolved government in
Northern Ireland have failed . . . largely, I would suggest, due
to their insistence on permanent compulsory coalition government
being a prerequisite for devolution].
Added to that, there is a widespread distrust
of quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations in general—particularly
since the establishment of the Anglo-Irish (now British-Irish)
Intergovernmental Conference and Secretariat in November 1985—when
successive Governments of the Irish Republic have had a major
say in persons appointed to serve on such quangos as, no matter
how impartial or well-intentioned quango members may be, many
Pro-Union voters regard members of such bodies as being the stooges
of a hostile foreign government, particularly the Parades Commission
which appears to be accountable to no-one and a law unto itself.
(II). It never made sense to establish a Commission
which, on one hand, is responsible for adjudicating on contentious
parades, whilst on the other being responsible for mediation between
communities with conflicting opinions on whether parades should
be allowed to proceed, as conflict will arise between its adjudicating
and mediating roles. It also has to be said that the Parades Commission's
remit has been so broad that it is seen as policing by quango
and above the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Rulings of the Parades
Commission have frequently been draconian and often compromised
the Loyal Orders' right to freedom of movement, freedom of religion
and worship, freedom of speech and publication, and freedom of
assembly and association for a lawful purpose: rulings which may
well be the subject of legal challenges in the courts following
the implementation of the 1998 Human Rights Act (incorporating
the European Convention on Human Rights into UK domestic law)
in October this year. If overturned in the courts, the Parades
Commission's earlier rulings may result in huge amounts of rate-and-taxpayers'
money being squandered on legal costs, etc, and ever-decreasing
public confidence in the Commission by the people of Northern
Ireland as a whole.
(III). There is no such thing as a "Catholic
area" of Northern Ireland any more than there is such a thing
as a "Protestant area", although both republican and
self-styled "loyalist" terrorists used their religious
identities to institutionalise sectarianism in the Province. Members
of the Loyal Orders do not pass through "Catholic areas"
although they frequently pass by residential areas dominated by
adherents of the Roman Catholic faith. Population changes may
themselves alter the composition of residential areas which members
of the Loyal Orders pass by en-route to the destination of their
demonstration on public roads and highways they and their forefathers
have walked for generations. Nevertheless, preventing one religious
sect from parading past another only creates "no-go areas"
and establishes cultural apartheid—reinforced by prejudice
and fear—not a pluralist society in which cultural and/or
racial diversity is recognised and respected. Members in all the
Loyal Orders and accompanying bands parade under strict rules
which provide for immediate suspension or, in severe cases, expulsion
from either the bands/Loyal Orders themselves and/or future parades
if their behaviour does not meet prescribed codes of conduct.
The Parades Commission has consistently failed to appreciate these
facts.
(IV). Open-air parades, rallies, religious services,
etc, are not confined to Northern Ireland—as vividly demonstated
in the annual City of London District Loyal Orange Lodge Parades,
Gay Pride walk and Notting Hill Carnival: all of which take place
not far from the House of Commons, and/or the Durham Miners' Gala
which also takes place annually close to both Tony Blair's and
Peter Mandelson's constituencies, and which some people would
argue are equally—if not more—contentious as many
of the parades in Northern Ireland, yet there is no analogous
body to regulate public processions either in England or, for
that matter, elsewhere in the United Kingdom. This seems to imply
that Northern Ireland is unique in needing such a body to police
such activities. You may or may not be aware that, prior to—and
following—the triennial meeting of the Imperial Grand Orange
Council of the World in Liverpool this coming July, Orange parades
are scheduled to take place in Liverpool; one could argue therefore,
that there is a case for a UK-wide Parades Commission or analogous
bodies to the Northern Ireland Parades Commission being established
in England, Scotland and Wales, although neither is the road I
would go down.
Properly marketed by the Northern Ireland Tourist
Board et al, the "Relief of Derry", "Black Saturday"
and "Twelfth of July" parades and demonstrations in
the Province have the potential to become major tourist attractions
and bring much-needed job-creation and inward investment to Northern
Ireland as, already, many members of the Loyal Orders and their
families (usually resident in England, Scotland and Wales) participate
in parades and/or take holidays in the Province. It is a tragedy
that, whilst the overwhelming majority of parades in Northern
Ireland pass off peacefully (without incident), a minority have
become a cause for terrorists—masquerading as "concerned
community/residents" groups—to vociferously oppose
such processions and incite hatred between and within communities.
New Labour claims to be committed to equality
of opportunity for all British citizens. That being so, at a time
when it is naively affording ramblers and walkers the right to
roam, I urge the Committee to press HMG to disband the Parades
Commission and repeal the Public Processions (Northern Ireland)
Act, to allow members of the Loyal Orders the right to march.
It is also galling to see HMG introducing legislation to disband
the Royal Ulster Constabulary—which has defended all the
people of Northern Ireland (of all faiths and none) from terrorism—when
it seems quite prepared to sustain and strengthen the hand of
the Parades Commission which, like so many innovations arising
from the Anglo-Irish Intergovernmental Conference, many believe
to be a reward for the perpetrators of terrorism over law-abiding
members of the Loyal Orders whose liberties it seeks to curtail;
hence HMG's priority should be to disband the Parades Commission
not the RUC.
23 March 2000
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