NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Trevor Ringland, has said that the law should be “scrupulously observed” during this year’s marching season. He made his comments in response to a suggestion by Orange Order chaplain, Reverend Mervyn Gibson, that the institution may consider not notifying the police about its parades.
“The Orange Order is made up of people with deep Christian beliefs, who play a hugely positive role in society”, Trevor observed. “Therefore it must not let its image be tarnished again by hard-line actions. There are disputes over only a tiny number of parades, while the vast majority go ahead without a problem, which shows that, overwhelmingly, the people of Northern Ireland can work out their differences in a respectful way.”
“Whatever the actions of other groups, a responsible organisation like the Orange Order should always be prepared to follow the correct procedures and respect their outcome. Respect for the rule of law should be the cornerstone to issues around parading. The last thing the police need is for the marching season to be used to stoke up sectarian tensions or as a test of their resources.”
“The leadership of the Orange Order should immediately make it very clear that it will be a responsible actor in these disputes and abide by the rule of law at all times. For their part, any politicians who are part of the orders should avoid manipulating marching issues for party gain and they should state quite clearly right now that they will not take part in any un-notified parade.”