Who is GUEST, Roddy. There was quite a lot of trouble recently as someone on another thread used someone else's name in an insulting fashion. Is someone doing the same with my name ? To answer some questions: The "ritualistic pieces of sloth" are the black flags periodically hung from lamp-standards and houses and also the Tricolours which are misused by being left out in wind, rain, snow and sleet to rot away from neglect and disrespect. They perform the same function as red-white-and-blue kerbstones and dog's wee - they mark out territory. paddymac: semantics is everything. Semantics is about the meanings of words. Without meaning there can be no communication. A memorial is a monument and cannot be a demonstration. Ignoring semantics leads to the sort of misunderstanding you have just shown. Orange marches do not mark the deaths of their "fallen heroes" but the triumph of the Dutch monarch (William lll, Protestant) over the pretender to the English throne (James ll, Catholic)in a campaign fought in Ireland in the late C17. Anything else is a late development. In the immortal words of an Orange leader recently a propos a march through a Catholic area "There's not much point to marching through Protestant areas where we are welcome." That just about sums it up. Roddy (the genuine one.)