“Why, in God’s name, do middle-aged Orangemen (as distinct from young soccer hooligans) want to parade where they are not wanted in poor all-Catholic areas— in their Orange Sashes, bowler hats, and Union Jacks, while often playing Anti-Catholic tunes?
Posted By: July 06, 2017
Fr. Mc Manus on Pathology of Orange Parades
CAPITOL HILL. Thursday, July 6, 2017— In his regular “Irish Congressional Briefings” (pertinent information for Members of the United States Congress), Fr. Sean Mc Manus—president of the Capitol Hill-based Irish National Caucus— keeps Members of Congress up to date on issues in Northern Ireland.
One of his recent Briefings is on the Pathology of Orange Parades through all-Catholic areas.
This Briefing — putting parading in an American context— has also been published in this week’s Irish Echo, as follows.
Why indeed?
Irish Echo. New York. July 5 -11, 2017
What pathology is going on there?
Let’s put this in an American context: If White supremacists wanted to march on the White House or U.S. Capitol, Americans would concede they had a right to march. But suppose, instead, the White supremacists insisted on marching through a poor all-Black area in Washington, DC? Would Americans have any doubt about what was going on there?
The Orange Order is an Anti-Catholic, fundamentalist, ultra-right wing organization.The first thing its Portadown branch said about the pending alliance between the May government and the DUP was that it hoped to be able, in effect, to again march down the Garvaghy Road, from which it has been banned since 1998.
Let’s be clear on this: If Sinn Fein or Irish Republicans insisted on marching provocatively through an all-Protestant area in Northern Ireland, the Irish National Caucus would be the first to oppose it.”— Fr. Sean Mc Manus
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