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Published Date: 23 May 2007

Location: Belfast

Blair, the Order and Drumcree

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By ERIC P KAUFMANN

From today, the News Letter is running
extracts from the book The Orange Order: A Contemporary Northern Irish History,
which gives a fascinating insight into an organisation which lies at the heart
of unionism. Here, author ERIC P KAUFMANN describes a crunch meeting with Tony
Blair at the height of the Drumcree crisis in 1998

Little ground had shifted between Gracey
and the Residents, but it is clear that Grand Lodge and McNarry were genuinely
trying to drag Gracey toward dialogue - even if the Order's starting position
was a guaranteed parade and the suspension of the PC. The Winter Initiative
continued to roll on three days later when members of Grand Lodge met Prime
Minister Blair, his Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell, Bill Jeffries of the
Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and Alistair Campbell to discuss matters relating
to parading and Protestant culture. Harold Gracey implored the PM to see things
from Portadown District's perspective. He spoke of its tradition, its compromise
over the Obins Street route in 1986 and the good behaviour of its members on
parade. He stated that the Order 'did our best to control violence'. Gracey then
pointed out that his district had called off its street protests when asked to
do so by David Trimble, but had received no reciprocation from the NIO or
Trimble. 'People find there is no other choice but to sit there (Drumcree] until
we have our civil rights restored', he claimed. Gracey also spoke of the 'black
propaganda' of the Quinn murders being associated with the Order and contended
that the Orange marching routes were arterial roads rather than part of a
Housing Estate.
Denis Watson then took a more consensual role, stating the
Order wanted to participate in a negotiation process and was willing to engage
in civil society as well as proximity talks with local Nationalist Residents.
Watson asked the PM whether mechanisms were available to promote and fund
Protestant culture. Robert Overend then presented the Order's printed submission
against the PC and George Patton expressed the position that the Order's views
were not being taken on board when major decisions were made, as with the North
Review of parades. Patton then stated the Orange position that the PC impinges
on Orange 'civil liberties'. After digesting the initial presentation, Blair
cautioned that 'there is no question of tying decommissioning into the Parade
getting approval'. However, Blair said he wanted to reach a position where all
parades proceed. 'I want to see parades', Blair continued, and said that he had
'never been under any illusion that (the] Parades Commission represents only the
least best option'.
'My personal view is (that] the Orange Order is a
respectable body that contributes to the life of society in Northern Ireland',
the PM said. He supported the need to 'educate people as to what the Orange
Order is all about', spoke of the Order's long traditions and deeply held
principles and insisted he would 'help by being positive'. John McCrea
complained of the adverse publicity the Order was getting and Blair seemed to
empathise. 'We have got to find a way of resolving Drumcree', Blair said. 'I
will play my part by saying what the Order is about. I am desperate to get
Drumcree sorted out', he added. At this, Gracey, who had adopted an
uncompromising tone throughout, said that Drumcree was not the problem but
rather the Garvaghy Road, and that he couldn't understand the lack of toleration
displayed by the local residents. 'I want the road open for my children and
grandchildren', he demanded. 'If Portadown is beaten (the] Orange Order is
beaten (and] Unionism is beaten'. Gracey, who described himself as 'not a
violent person', vowed to 'attempt to keep violence down' but also stressed the
depth of feeling among alienated young people in Portadown.
David McNarry
then adopted a tough line, asserting that the Order was 'not in the business of
negotiation - we believe we have unfinished business on Garvaghy Road...For
Harold Gracey to still be there at Christmas is inhumane'. McNarry then told the
PM that 'When we leave here we will be asked did we sell out? What did we get?'
McNarry therefore appealed to Blair to use his good offices to ensure a
breakthrough (via Sinn Fein to the Residents' Groups or directly through the
PC). In conclusion, John McCrea laid out the Order's principal demands, which
included a parade down Garvaghy Road by the end of 1998 and a disbanding of the
PC. He also asked the PM to inaugurate an initiative which would help promote
Orange culture. The PM probably knew he could not accede to McCrea's parading
demands, but seized the opportunity to move on the less explosive cultural
promotion issue by saying he would study it very carefully.
Attention next
moved to the less contentious ground of the review into the future of the Orange
Order offered by the Prime Minister. This was chaired by George Quigley and
accepted by David McNarry on behalf of the Order. A letter to the Prime Minister
spoke of the Orange sense of having been marginalised and welcomed a new body
which might promote and protect 'all aspects of heritage, culture and tradition'
with new funding. (Draft letter to Tony Blair from John McCrea, undated) The
PM's reply

was favourable, and he said he had charged his Secretary of
State to speak with cultural organisations and that this work would be
'completed very soon'. The letter promised draft terms of reference for the new
initiative by Christmas and concluded by encouraging the Order to consider the
part it might play within the cultural diversity facet of the millennium
celebrations. As the end of 1998 approached and it appeared that Portadown would
not parade in '98, a new letter from the new Grand Secretary Denis Watson called
off the cultural initiative/review since 'I am sure you will appreciate that it
would be impossible for this Institution to become fully involved whilst
Portadown District still await the restoration of their right to walk their
traditional route...'. Nevertheless, Watson did not close off dialogue but ended
by suggesting terms of reference for the new cultural initiative.

Last Updated: 23 May 2007

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More The Orange Order:

Orangeism's
role in the new Ulster

Paisley
in call for loyalists to unite

The
Orange Order prepares for war

Parades
Commission divides the Order

Blair,
the Order and Drumcree

An
Orange history from inside

More The Orange Order

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