Portadown, a relatively wealthy and industrialised town in County Armagh, like the rest of the Six Counties, has always been a deeply divided society; power and authority have not been equally shared; civil and political rights along with wealth and the access to the sources of wealth have not been equally shared. It is an unpleasant reality that in housing, schools, in business life, in religion and in politics, Portadown is almost completely segregated. It is the town where I was born, grew up, and just this morning returned from, after witnessing some of the worst civil unrest since the mid 1970's. I have spent the last two weeks reliving the worst of those days.

To a large degree, Portadown can be viewed as a microcosm of Northern Ireland. Indeed, many of the sectarian and discriminatory practices carried out by the ruling majority at the cost of the Nationalist minority on the wider Six County basis are, perhaps, felt more acutely in Portadown.

Portadown is one of the largest towns in County Armagh and has a Unionist/Nationalist population of approximately 3: 1. The Nationalist community was historically based around the Obins Street area of the town, but due to the increasing population, large scale segregation due to the political conflict, and because of demographic changes the vast majority of that community now resides in those estates which sprawl along the Garvaghy Road. With the construction of schools, churches and many services and businesses, this area now has a degree of autonomy that makes it a clearly defined area resembling a small town.

The Nationalist area is one of chronic social and economic deprivation and impoverishment. Irrespective of whatever indicators of social need one cares to adopt, the Nationalist areas have been, and still remain the areas of most intense social need within Portadown. It is by no means an accident of fate that 70% of the Nationalist community in the town were found to be living on or below the poverty level which the British Government has set down, according to one recent survey.

That 70% compares with an average of 20% for the entire town, and starkly demonstrates that economic and social deprivation within the Nationalist areas, has been greater than that in the Unionist areas of the town. The introduction of the Housing Executive and Fair Employment Legislation may have lessened the effects of some of the discrimination but locally, in terms of undoing the damage of years of poverty and unemployment, have produced poor results. This fact in itself is an indictment on how discrimination and sectarianism have resulted in chronic social deprivation and cultural and political suppression of one substantial section of the population.

However the Nationalist/Catholic community has, from within itself, discovered how to develop the community and address many of its needs. There has been a growth in community spirit and a sense of ownership of Garvaghy Road/Drumcree area. The residents have formed clubs and associations with the aim of servicing the social needs of their area. Between St. Mary's Youth Club, the Ashgrove Community Centre and Drumcree Community Centre there are services for Kindergarten, Creche, youth club, disabled and handicapped, adult education, Irish culture (language classes, dance, literature) Old Age Pensioner services and activities. At all levels groups build links with the wider Portadown community. Sport is thriving with several different clubs within the area. After years of failure, groups have managed to attract significant funding for projects. Mayfair Business Centre and Bannside Development have brought over a million and a half pounds of investment to boost economic development.

All this voluntary activity and the cooperation with statutory bodies reflect a maturity and growing confidence of the Catholic/Nationalist residents. While the social deprivation means that the community suffers an excessive burden of social problems, it also produces a high proportion of young adults with good education.

Within the Garvaghy Road area one could have the impression that this is a healthy community which has dignity. It is in a position to have a healthy relationship with the wider Portadown community. This possibility is shattered each year during the "marching season" and compounded by severe restrictions placed by the police on the rights of Catholic/Nationalists to parade and to express one's communal, national and cultural identities. The manner by which conflict and deprivation of rights has been handled by the State is demonstrative of the flagrant manner in which the minority community in Portadown has been shamefully treated in relation to the majority community. Perhaps, nowhere else in Northern Ireland has that treatment been more fully exposed or has it resulted in the open and brutal humiliation of a Nationalist community.

While the events of July 1995, July 1996, and now, July 2000 have made the names of Drumcree and the Garvaghy Road echo around the world, the background to those events are often ignored in the media and by political commentators.

Parades by the Orange Order and its sister organisation the Royal Black Preceptory (RBP) have long proven themselves to be a source of major controversy for the town's Catholic/Nationalist community. That arises from the insistence of the Orange Order and others to route some of these parades through areas which are almost exclusively Catholic/Nationalist areas. For many years, Catholics/Nationalists have campaigned for, and actively demanded, the rerouting of these contentious parades away from their neighbourhoods. They view the whole issue as being simple and straightforward; one which questions the morality and justness of the State authorities in permitting any parade to proceed through an area where the vast majority of residents are opposed to it, and where residents openly and publicly withhold their consent from such parades and marches taking place.

We all recognise and uphold the fundamental value of freedom of speech and expression of all people and groups in a democratic state. We all aspire to an ideal situation where everyone can freely express their religious, political, cultural or ethnic identities through public celebration. However, in a society that has a plurality of identities the situation requires more complex arrangements. In a society that has experienced social and political strife, justice demands rigorous laws and radical committment of all to implement them. Where there are conflicts of rights, and one or both parties are unwilling or unable to resolve the conflict through voluntary accommodation, the law must arbitrate and do so fairly.

Northern Ireland is a bitterly divided society with a legacy of conflict between two main communities with their distinct identities. The right of freedom of expression must be exercised:
i) fairly,
ii) sensitively and
iii) with minority given due respect. In Portadown this has not been the case.
i) The majority tradition has been given freedom of expression throughout the town, with an excessive number of parades and excessive displays of symbols, while the minority community is restricted to their residential area;
ii) the excessive nature of the majority celebration, and their demand to celebrate their political, religious and cultural identity in the residential area of the minority, is blatantly insensitive to the feelings, dignity and rights of the minority community.
iii) the minority have not been given space to celebrate their culture, religion or politics in a manner consistent with their number.

On all three grounds there is a clear case of moral injustice. There are no moral grounds to demand a particular location of public celebration. Such a right is not recognized in any charter of rights currently endorsed internationally. There is an obvious alternative to the return leg of the Drumcree Church parade. The insensitivity of the return route, of this majority tradition parade of symbols and emblems, has resulted in serious public disorder in the area of the minority tradition. In recent times this disorder has been channelled into disciplined and dignified protest. This is a sign of a politically maturing minority. Does the law defend the rights of the minority in this situation? I believe there is adequate legislation to deal with the Portadown conflict. The chief failure has been the unwillingness of the government to restrict parades of the majority tradition, especially when they oppose the state in a structured way, and the inability of the police force to enforce the law impartially.

Furthermore, in a town where the Catholic population is a 6,000 minority and the Protestant population is a 16,000 majority, such parades through areas which are overwhelmingly Catholic take on an added significance - the dark suspicion and belief that these parades are an attempt by the majority to stamp their influence, and indeed, their supremacy upon the minority. That suspicion is added to even further when one realises that the route of these contentious parades lies directly along a road which is the main artery, if not the very heart, of the area where the vast majority of the town's Catholic population, over 1,500 families, reside.

In fact, the issue of Orange parades and the routes they take not only affects Portadown, but goes to the very heart of the Northern State. In no other democratic or western society would it be conceivable that the forces of the state would force a march or parade by one ethnic, political or religious group, through that of another. Especially one organised by an association whose members are required to strenuously oppose the religious and political beliefs of the resident community. The parallel, which a young Catholic woman drew on the Garvaghy Road on July 11th 1996, with marches by the Ku Klux Klan through Afro-American communities or National Front members through Jewish or other ethnic communities deals with the same moral and legal principles.

In a divided society moral justice demands that the exercise of the right to publicly celebrate one's religion, politics or culture be done fairly, sensitively and with due respect to minorities. In Portadown justice has not been done. The majority has acted with culpable insensitivity. This has resulted in public disorder.

The Orange Order is an exclusively Protestant organisation. Claims by the Order that it is a purely religious body concerned solely with the maintenance of the Protestant faith often ring hollow in Catholic ears. The Order's often publicised and direct ties with, and the influences which it can bring to bear upon, the political forces of Unionism are all too evident both historically and at present.

When Ireland was partitioned in 1921, the unifying focal point for many within the pro-union majority in the North of Ireland was the Orange Order, with its history of blatantly sectarian actions against the Catholic/Nationalist community. It was first established at the end of the 18th century and had grown in power and influence since then. By the 1920's and partition, the Orange Order had become the largest single block within the Ulster Unionist Council; the ruling body of the Ulster Unionist Party, the party which governed the Six Counties in what was in effect a one-party state until the abolition of Stormont, the Northern Parliament, in 1972. During the lifetime of the Stormont regime, over half of the seats held by Unionists were uncontested at elections.

Proportional representation was abolished for local elections in 1922 and for Stormont elections in 1929. This was deliberately designed to minimize the Catholic/Nationalist opposition, a tactic which, aided by the gerrymandering of electoral boundaries, concentrated the non-unionist vote into a smaller number of constituencies. This gerrymandering of electoral boundaries ensured the election of Unionist controlled local government bodies even in areas such as Derry, where there was clear and substantial Nationalist majority.

Membership of the Orange Order was then, and still appears to remain, an essential pre-requisite to political advancement within the Unionist Party and Government. All but three members of the various Ulster Unionist cabinets which governed the North from 1921 to 1972 were members of the Orange Order. One former minister of Home Affairs, W. W. B. Topping, once remarked that the Unionist Party would be worthless without the Orange Order. James Craig, the first Prime Minister of the Northern State, admitted that his membership of the Orange Order meant more to him than his seat in Parliament.

Such was the influence wielded by the Orange Order over the Stormont regime, that according to Henry Patterson, Professor of Politics at Queen's University,

"There is clear evidence in the Public Record Office in Belfast in the 1920's and 1930's that Sir Charles Blackmore, who was Cabinet Secretary, was essentially a messenger boy for the Orange Order. He would go to Sir James Craig, the Prime Minister, and Sir Wilfred Spender, the head of the civil service, and convey Orange Order fears about this or that civil servant who was either a Catholic or believed to be a Catholic, or who was actually married to a Catholic."

This paranoia reached its height in 1934, when the Orange Order interfered to have a Catholic gardener at Stormont sacked because of his religion. "This Catholic, " says Patterson "had volunteered in the first World War. He had a magnificent army record and a reference from the Prince of Wales." (Irish Times, July 1995)

These ties between the Unionist Party and the Orange Order were replicated throughout the North at local level, as a brief, cursory look at the Orange/Unionist relationship in Portadown shows.

Five of the seven men who have held the post of District Master of the Order in Portadown since partition were also prominent members of the Unionist Party.
W.H. Wright, District Master until 1926, was a legal advisor to both Portadown and Lurgan town Councils, and the Secretary of North Armagh Unionist Association. He was also credited with having played a leading role in the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force.
Major David Shillington was a Unionist MP at Stormont and a Cabinet minister for several years during the 1930's and 40's.
Dr. George Dougan was also a Unionist MP.
Robert Magowan was an elected representative for almost forty years, from 1926 until 1964. During that time he held the posts of Chairman of Portadown Urban Council and Mayor of Portadown Borough Council on several occasions. Magowan not only held the post of District Master but also that of County Grand Master.
Herbert Whitten, District Master of the Order in Portadown from 1968 - 1981, was also very prominent in Unionist politics. A Mayor of Portadown and also of Craigavon Borough Council, Whitten was a Unionist MP as well.
Other Portadown Orangemen who were leading figures in the controlling Unionist Party included Isaac Hawthorne, another MP and one time Chief Whip in the Stormont Parliament.
W.H. Wolsley, a leading Orangeman who became Mayor of Portadown in the 50's, was later to receive "the compliments of LOL 89 for his services to the brethren whilst being a member of the Council."
In the fifties and sixties, prominent Orangemen with Unionist political ties included Robert Williamson (a Mayor of Portadown), Councillors J.G. McCann and Ernest Downey.
One Orange lodge alone, LOL 608, has provided three Mayors of Portadown - Edward Cassells, Frank Dale and Alfred Martin; one Mayor Craigavon in 1994-95, Brian Maginness; and one chairman of Armagh District Council, George McCartney.

The influence of the Orange Order was used in February 1978 to cheek two straying Unionist Councillors of Craigavon Borough Council whose votes had helped carry a motion in favour of Sunday opening of Brownlow Recreation Centre. A candid letter from the District Master of Portadown Orangeism, Councillor Herbert Whitten was enough to bring the two straying sheep back into the fold. The council was then able to rescind its' decision on March 6th.

Throughout the 1970's and 80's, the Unionist controlled Craigavon council earned notoriety as a result of being found guilty of discriminatory practices by the courts. On one occasion this led to 12 Unionist councillors, amongst whom were several well-known members of the Orange Order, being surcharged for their actions and disqualified from holding public office. The twelve were found to have been guilty of conducting a campaign of discrimination against a local Gaelic football club.

In a judgement in the High Court relating to this case, Lord Justice Lowry attacked "the unjustified action of a majority of the council who appear to have been motivated by sectarian bias."

In March 1985, the then Mayor of Craigavon was one of the most prominent of those who prevented a St. Patrick's Day parade being held by Nationalists in Portadown. The former Westminster MP for Upper Bann, the late Harold McCusker, left many of his Catholic constituents in Portadown with an indelible memory with his beating of a Lambeg drum as he took part in Orange marches through their neighbourhood.

Indeed, it is no secret that the Orange Order played a major role in securing the leadership of the Ulster Unionist Party for David Trimble in 1995 following his prominent role during the standoff at Drumcree, caused by the opposition of local residents to an Orange March along the Garvaghy Road. It is with unfailing regularity that many Unionist elected representatives like Trimble and other Unionist party officials are seen to take up prominent positions in the Order itself, as well as in these parades.

Added to this is the obvious and very public opposition of the Orange Order to Catholic/Nationalist aspirations. July 12 resolutions, such as those abhorring the Nationalist aspiration "of a united Ireland, no matter however modern or accommodating it has promised to become" or those which attack Government financial aid to the Catholic education system in the North, for example, merely fuel the perception that the Orange tradition is directly opposed to the aspirations and faith of the minority population. Such public stances and political ties would appear to fly in the face of claims that the Order prides itself on the principle of civil and religious liberty for all.

The role of the RUC in relation to the parades' issue is also viewed with mistrust by most of the Catholic/Nationalist community. The overwhelming RUC presence needed to secure the passage of these parades through areas where their presence is totally unwelcomed is seen to be oppressive and heavy handed. For historical and other reasons, including the RUC's hostile attitude towards the Nationalist community in general, this only adds to the sense of bias and injustice.

Furthermore, the fact that many members of the RUC are themselves members of the Orange Order, or its' sister organisations, the Black Preceptory and the Apprentice Boys, calls into question their ability to behave in an impartial and unbiased manner in relation to the issue of these marches. It is believed that 30% of RUC personnel are in the Loyal Orders. A number of RUC personnel are currently under investigation for having participated in illegal blockades during July 1996 in support of the Portadown Orangemen at Drumcree.

This relationship between Orangeism and Unionism is seen by the Catholic/Nationalist community to politicise parades by the Orange Order. These feelings are supported by the above facts. An Orange "Church" parade cannot pretend to be a merely or exclusively a religious affair and demand privileges that a society might rightly bestow to a purely religious event. It is clearly a significant political statement and therefore ought to be treated as such in the debate on freedom of expression.

It is the link between the Orange Order, Unionism and the RUC, and their synchronised operation in forcing parades on through areas where they are unwelcome, which strengthen in Catholic/Nationalist eyes the perceptions of Orange parades as instruments of, and vehicles for, Protestant/Unionist domination; and which add to their own feelings of inequality and alienation. Now the RUC are been seen as 'Traitors', and effigies of them burned on bonfires across the North of Ireland on the eleventh (last) night.

As had been proven in 1996 the RUC, charged with the impartial implementation of the law, could not act impartially because a significant proportion of the force were members of the political organization that was breaking the law.

The Loyal Orders, especially the Orange Order, have confronted two very different opponents: the Catholics (residents of Armagh) and the British State. Two questions motivate the research: what is the relation between the political and religious natures of the conflict? And what does the Loyal Order demand of the state?

"The Orange Institution has been at pains to avoid confrontation and to conduct themselves with the utmost decorum as befitting a religious organisation".
Orange Order statement, July 1995.
"Orange Order parades in the Obins Street-Garvaghy road area have a history and tradition dating back to a time when nationalists raised no objections to the parades"
Orange Order statement, July 1995
"The fact is, the parade does cause annoyance to many of the Ballyoran-Garvaghy residents, as shown by the loud protests over the past years"
Portadown Times Editorial July 7 1995

According to the historian Andrew Boyd, Orange Societies of one type or another did exist prior to the establishment of the Orange Order at Loughgall in September 1795.

That such societies did in fact exist can be seen clearly from a call by the then rector of Drumcree Church, the Rev. George Maunsell, at a Sunday service in June 1795, when he implored his congregation to "celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne in the true spirit of the institution" by attending a service to be conducted by a Rev. Devine on July 1st. This same Rev. Maunsell, who later became Dean of Leighlin, was one of the "few of the resident gentry of the County" who originally joined the Orange Order in its' early days according to the memoirs of William Blacker, a major landlord and very influential figure in North Armagh and one of the prime movers in establishing the Order. That July 1st service was to be the antecedent of the Orange Orders later church services at Drumcree. The historian Francis Plowden described what happened after the Rev. Devine's service on page 17 of his "History of Ireland" (Vol. I, published 1809).

"This evangelical labourer in the vineyard of the Lord of Peace so worked up the minds of his audience, that upon retiring from service, on the different roads leading to their respective homes, they gave full scope to the anti-papistical zeal with which he had inspired them, falling upon every Catholic they met, beating and bruising them without distinction, breaking the doors and windows of their houses, and actually murdering two unoffending peasants who were digging in a bog. This unprovoked atrocity of Protestants revived and redoubled religious rancour. The flame spread and threatened a contest of extermination."

It was two months later, after another bloody sectarian confrontation, known as the Battle of the Diamond, in a townland near the village of Loughgall in County Armagh, that the first Orange lodge was set up and the first Orangemen sworn into membership.

The Battle of the Diamond, in which 30 Catholics and no Protestants were killed, was one of the worst outrages in what historians have referred to ever since as the Armagh outrages - widespread intimidation and terror.

Hundreds of families, most of them Catholics, were forced to leave their homes when threatened by armed men in the dead of night and to flee the county entirely. At a meeting convened by the Governor of County Armagh, Lord Gosford, on December 28th 1795, thirty magistrates reached the following resolution:

"Resolved, that it appears to this meeting, that the County of Armagh is at present in a state of uncommon disorder, that the Roman Catholic inhabitants are grievously oppressed by lawless persons unknown, who attack and plunder their homes by night and threaten them with instant destruction, unless they abandon immediately their lands and habitations......
"It is no secret, that a persecution, accompanied with all the circumstances of ferocious cruelty, which in all ages have distinguished that calamity, is now raging in the County.....
"The only crime, which the wretched objects of this ruthless persecution are charged with, is a crime indeed of easy proof:
"It is simply a profession of the Roman Catholic faith, or an intimate connection with a person professing that faith....
"It is nothing less than a confiscation of all property and an immediate banishment. It would be extremely painful, and unnecessary to detail the horrors that attend the execution of so rude and tremendous a proscription. A proscription that certainly exceeds, in the comparative number of those it consigns to ruin and misery, every example that ancient and modern history can supply; for where have we heard, or in what story of human cruelties have we read of more than half the inhabitants of a populous county, deprived at one blow of the means, as well as the fruits of their industry, and driven in the midst of an inclement season, to seek shelter for themselves and their families where chance may guide them.
"This is no exaggerated picture of the horrid scenes now acting in the county. Yet surely it is sufficient to awaken sentiments of indignation and compassion in the coldest bosoms. These horrors are now acting with impunity.
"The spirit of impartial justice (without which law is nothing better than an instrument of tyranny) has for a time disappeared in the county, and the supineness of the magistracy of Armagh is become a common topic of conversation in every corner of the Kingdom."

The resolution passed at that meeting was referred to by Henry Grattan in Parliament in February 1796 when he spoke of the "horrid persecution", "abominable barbarity" and "general extermination" being conducted in County Armagh against the Catholic population. When questioned in the House of Commons, James Verner, M.P., attributed these atrocities to what he termed "the Orange Boys".

In Freeman's Journal of February 27, 1796, a Colonel Craddock who had been sent to Ireland to take control of the situation in County Armagh was reported as having

"Avowed that the conduct of the Orangemen , or Protestants, was atrocious to the highest degree; and that their persecution of the Defenders, or Catholics, should be resisted and punished with the whole force of the Government."

The Colonel went on to confirm that the Catholic Defenders were retaliating against the Orangemen out of sheer exasperation. This was mainly due to the Orange policy of "wrecking" which was being perpetrated against the Catholic population. The "wreckers" operations ranged from murder and arson to the destruction of crops, animals, looms and furnishings. Craddock also confirmed that it was retaliation by the Catholic Defenders against such acts which led to the major conflict at the Diamond.

James Christie. a member of the Society of Friends also known as the Quakers, later gave evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee investigation into the Orange Order on July 10

"...it was termed "wrecking" when the parties broke open the door and smashed everything that was capable of being broken in the house .... they threw the furniture out of the house smashed; and in other cases they set fire to the house."

Mr. Christie told of 12-14 Catholic houses being burned in one night outside Portadown in 1795 and of Catholic churches being attacked in various parts of North Armagh. He also spoke of the belongings and land of the purged Catholic community being distributed to Protestants.

By the end of 1796, an estimated 3,500 Catholics had been terrorised and driven out of their homes in County Armagh by Verner's "Orange Boys", and their campaign of wrecking.

On July 12 1797, the first Grand Committee of the Orange Order was appointed at a meeting in Portadown. Later that year, a new headquarters was established in Dublin at the Dawson Street residence of James Verner's student sons, where Orange Lodge No. 176 was already based.

By the turn of the 18th century the Orange Order had grown and infiltrated every aspect of the established Protestant society. It's belligerent demonstrations increased in frequency and violence. Again in July 1805, Henry Grattan once more forthrightly condemned the nature and activities of the Orange Order in the House of Commons.

On August 18th 1812 a Judge Fletcher stated quite unequivocally that:

"Orange societies have produced the most mischievous effects... they poison the very foundations of justice... With these Orange Associations I connect the Commemorations and Processions .... and I do emphatically state it as my settled opinion, that until these associations are effectually put down and the arms taken from their hands, in vain will the North of Ireland expect tranquility or peace."

A report in the Belfast News Letter of August 21, 1812, shows vividly how widespread the Orange philosophy had become. The entire Armagh Yeomanry was disbanded by the Lord Lieutenant due to "insubordination." The first instance of this insubordination came to light on the 2nd of July when a sergeant and nine privates were dismissed for refusing to serve under an officer who had signed a petition in favour of Catholic Emancipation. "A mutinous spirit" was then said to have become manifest amongst the Yeomanry throughout the county. As a result, the authorities were left with no other option but to disband what in had become the Orange Order's military wing in County Armagh. Previous to their disbandment, it was commonplace for entire companies of Yeomen, to take part in Orange parades wearing full ceremonial uniform.

During a speech in the House of Commons in July 1815, Henry Parnell pointed out that no less than 14 petitions had been presented to Parliament imploring the attention of the legislature to the Orange Order and he stated that:

"To the existence of Orange Lodges in Ireland, was mainly attributed the disturbances of the public peace, particularly by the celebrations of processions with certain insignia, etc., that, besides the agitation which these necessarily produced they beget a counter spirit among the people that led to animosities, which, in their consequences, produced riots."

A party of Orangemen returning from Middletown on July 12, 1822, attacked Catholic homes at Cruskeenan and murdered a Catholic named Patrick Grimley. At the inquest five days later, it was allege that two sons of the Rev. Nathaniel Smith, rector of Madden, and another man named Brown had attacked Grimley in his own home with swords and a pistol. Rev. Smith stood bail for another Orangeman accused of wrecking Catholic-owned homes.

At Armagh Assizes on July 26th Judge Jebb, in an obvious reference to the Orange Order's influence, described as a "...great neglect on the part of the magistrates and gentlemen of the county who have failed to make anyone amenable for the murder" and exhorted them to discard private influence and encourage men of good character to join the police force.

"Had this been done" said the judge, "the murder would not have occurred nor the perpetrators have escaped"

Within a few months the Rev. Smith's son, Samuel, was charged with Grimley's murder. Evidence was given that Smith junior had led the parade on the 12th and had incited the Orangemen to attack Catholics. He was found not guilty.

On July 17th 1822 a petition from John Lawless, the editor of a Belfast newspaper, was presented to the House Of Commons by a Mr. Brougham, M.P. for Winchelsea. The petition complained of illegal 12th July processions and gave instances of riotous behaviour by the Orangemen. The M.P. for Knaresborough, Sir James Mackintosh, also stated in relation to the Orange Order parades that
"This was the only instance in the history of nations where a minority of conquerors continued to insult the people of a country through a series of ages down to the present period"

Sir James went on to describe the parades as an annual insult to the people of Ireland and a libel upon the memory of King William.
The following year four Orangemen were tried and acquitted of the murder of a Catholic, Michael Campbell, at Killileagh in county Armagh. Campbell had been shot dead and several other Catholics wounded by Orangemen taking part in a July parade. Discharging them, the trial judge (Johnston) said:

"They all knew the strong feeling that prevailed in the county regarding their silly processions. Was it to triumph over the fallen - to exult in victory - to insult a large portion of their fellow subjects that they made such mischievous exhibitions?"

The activities of the Orange Order led to its' attempted suppression by an Act of Parliament in 1825 chiefly because of the sectarian turmoil and disruption caused by its annual parades, as events in Keady, Killileagh and other places proved. The Grand Lodge of Ireland dissolved itself as a consequence of this new law. Nevertheless, on July 12th of that year, Portadown Orangemen defied the authorities and marched through the town. Magistrates unsuccessfully ordered the dispersal of the marchers, but the police force available was said to have been found insufficient, and the brethren were able to march unhindered.

In July of 1826, twenty-one Orangemen were charged with offenses arising out of an incident at Tartaraghan on the outskirts of Portadown. Despite the evidence of eye-witnesses, including the local Catholic parish priest, Rev. Coleman, all were acquitted of the attack and destruction of a Catholic place of worship.

Portadown magistrate, Mr. C. Woodhouse, in a last minute effort to prevent an unlawful Orange parade taking place on July 12 1827, called all the local leaders of the Orange Order together that morning. The Orangemen refused to listen to his appeal, and some 5,000 were said to have marched through the town that day.

1828 saw Orangemen in Belfast and a number of other areas abide by the wishes of the authorities and they didn't march at all. However, Portadown Orangemen displayed their contempt and disregard for those same authorities by parading as usual with flags flying and discharging their firearms.

Such was the concern surrounding the July parades in 1829 that magistrates met in Belfast on July 7th. According to The News Letter, the meeting took place "at the request of the Marquis of Donegal, in consequence of some information that the processions of Orangemen here would probably endanger the public peace."

Almost 20.000 Orangemen again defied the authorities and marched through Portadown that same month.

There was widespread rioting and shootings across the North with serious sectarian disturbances breaking out in Armagh, Strabane, Newtownstewart, Castlewellan, Enniskillen , Stewartstown and Maghera. One Belfast newspaper claimed that up to twenty people had been killed as a result of the disturbances. The District Master of the Order in Armagh city, Mr. G. Tyrell, was charged with having caused the riots there on July 13.

In November 1830, an Orange parade through the village of Maghery, a few miles from Portadown resulted in most of the houses in that locality being destroyed and the inhabitants fleeing for their lives. Evidently, the Orangemen were still maintaining their policy of "wrecking" which had proved so effective in the past. Residents of the predominantly Catholic village were to give evidence before the Parliamentary Select Committee investigation into the Orange Order in 1835.

The Party Processions Act which was given the Royal Assent in 1832, and which was to be enforced for the next five years, was continuously defied by Portadown Orangemen. Commenting on the Act at Armagh Summer Assizes in 1833, a Judge Moore said:

"Its object was to put an instant stop to parties marching in procession, with colours, badges, or other insignia, calculated to create a disturbance or arouse religious and political animosity in His Majesty's Roman Catholic subjects."

In June 1833, the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland issued a directive to senior police officers around the country regarding the forthcoming July parades. He expressed his hope that "there will be no recurrence, on the 12th July, of those assemblies which have proved so destructive of the peace of the country" which he described as a "custom, not only mischievous in its effects, but in violation of the law, the utmost aid of the Government will be afforded for the suppression of such assemblies." All police were instructed to note the names of persons taking part or making speeches with a view to prosecution.

On July 12th 1833, an estimated 20,000 Orangemen and their supporters paraded illegally through Portadown to Carrickblacker House, the residence of Lieutenant Colonel William Blacker, one of the most influential figures within the entire Orange Order. Fourteen Orangemen were later charged with taking part in the proceedings, three of whom were bound over to keep the peace while the others were set free.

The authorities in Dublin Castle who were becoming increasingly alarmed at the activities of Blacker later stripped him of his commission and dismissed him as a Justice of the Peace for County Armagh.

On the same day as the Carrickblacker demonstration, Orangemen, who most likely had taken part in that affair, paraded through Ballyhagan, a mainly Catholic area outside Portadown, attacking and severely injuring a number of Catholics. A petition complaining of the collusion of Portadown magistrates and police in preventing the prosecution of twenty one identified members of the attackers was sent to the Marquis of Anglesey, the Lord- Lieutenant General and Governor General of Ireland. The leading Orangeman, William Blacker was the chairman of the petty sessions at Portadown. Joseph Atkinson, who also sat at the petty sessions was not only an Orangeman but was also related to one of the accused.

The petitioners claimed that their lives had been threatened to stop them giving evidence and went on to state that,

"Before a tribunal, constituted as the petty sessions of Portadown, they do not believe their case would receive such an investigation as the ends of justice and the vindication of laws require;

"The petitioners further humbly beg leave to represent to your Excellency, that from the well-known principles of a large majority of the magistrates in Armagh, and the selection of the juries of that County, most of whom are composed of Orangemen, that there is little probability of petitioner's cause receiving a fair and impartial trial and judgement, particularly if same be tried in the court of quarter sessions; and petitioners, therefore, humbly hope, that your Excellency may be pleased to order a magistracy of the county to take informations against such persons as can be identified who composed the unlawful assembly and committed the outrage in question; and that such information may be returned to the assizes, and the parties accused dealt with in the mean time according to law."

Hugh Donnelly, a 29 year old Catholic from Drumcree was killed after being struck on the head with a stone during a confrontation with Orangemen in 1835. Six out of seven Orangemen indicted for his murder at the County Armagh Summer Assizes were found guilty on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

The behaviour of the Orangemen in general can be gauged by evidence submitted to the Parliamentary Select Committee by a County Armagh magistrate, William J. Hancock, a Protestant, in relation to July 1835 in Portadown.

"For some time past the peaceable inhabitants of the parish of Drumcree have been insulted and outraged by large bodies of Orangemen parading the highways, playing party tunes, firing shots, and using the most opprobrious epithets they could invent .... A body of Orangemen, wearing Orange lilies, marched through the town ... and proceeded to Drumcree Church, passing by the Catholic chapel though it was a considerable distance out of their way .... On Sunday, Monday, and Monday night, and a great deal of Tuesday, the peaceable citizens of the town were alarmed and terrified by the frequent discharge of musketry, accompanied by the most menacing language .... a tenant of Mr. Brownlow's was severely beaten by a body of Orangemen, armed with deadly weapons, hatchets, etc."

Effigies of Mr. Hancock, who was responsible of gathering much of the evidence against the Orange Order locally for submission to the Select Committee, were burned in Tandragee and Portadown.

The British Government established a Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate the activities of the Orange Order in 1835. The Committee studied a wide range of evidence and submissions concerning the Order before issuing a report. As can be seen from the following extract of the report, the Parliamentary Committee was quite explicit in recognising the inherent sectarian nature of the Orange Order and its associated parades -

"The obvious tendency and effect of the Orange Society is to keep up an exclusive society in civil and military life, exciting one portion of the people against the other; to increase rancour and animosity too often, unfortunately, existing between different religious persuasions ... by processions on particular days, attended with insignia of the society, to excite to breaches of the peace and to bloodshed."

When the report was published, a Cabinet Council meeting was held at the Foreign Office for the purpose of agreeing the terms of the resolutions to be submitted to the House of Commons by Lord John Russell, Secretary of State for the Home Department on Tuesday 23rd February 1836.

The first of the two resolutions submitted to the House of Commons is worthwhile remembering given the events surrounding the Drumcree Orange parade of July 1996 -

"That it is the opinion of this House that the existence of any political society in Ireland, consisting exclusively of persons preferring one religious faith, using secret signs and symbols, and acting by means of affiliated branches, tend to injure the peace of society - to derogate from the authority of the Crown, to weaken the supremacy of the law and to impair the religious freedom of His Majesty's subjects in that part of the United Kingdom."

The resolutions were presented to the King who replied to the House of Commons on February 25th 1836 through Lord John Russell. The following is the King's reply -

"WILLIAM REX - I willing assert to the prayer of my faithful Commons, that I will be pleased to take such measures as shall seem advisable for the effectual discouragement of Orange Lodges, and generally of all political societies excluding persons of a different religious persuasion using signs and symbols, and acting by means of associated lodges. It is my firm intention to discourage all such Societies, and I rely on the fidelity of my loyal subjects to support me in my determination."

The following day, the Grand Master of the Orange Order, the Duke of Cumberland, who was in fact the King's brother, sent a letter to Russell stating that he would take all legal steps to have the Order dissolved.

On April 13th 1836 the Grand Lodge met in Dublin and voted in favour of dissolving the Orange Institution - in accordance with the King's wishes. Yet while that was the official public response, the reality was that the Orange Order continued to exist.

Portadown Orangemen were again to demonstrate their extremism and contempt for the King to whom they supposedly professed loyalty. A meeting was held on June 13 with many influential Portadown Orangemen present. The meeting decided that since the Grand Lodge no longer existed, the County Armagh Grand Lodge would now take control of the Orange Order and William Blacker was elected the new Grand Master.

In July Orangemen paraded defiantly through the town and at least 50 later appeared in court for taking part in the unlawful procession. All were released on bail of sums of #10-#50, quite substantial amounts at that time.

The Orange Order continued to remain in existence as a major political force, particularly in County Armagh, in open defiance of the King and Parliament.

Police and magistrates failed to prevent an Orange march from entering a Catholic part of Armagh City on July 12th 1845. The march sparked of a major riot between the Orangemen, many of whom were armed, and the Catholic residents. One Catholic died and several others were injured when the Orangemen opened fire. Three Orangemen were later convicted of manslaughter and received extremely light sentences ranging from one to four months

Twelfth of July parades in Belfast provoked the worst outbreak of sectarian violence seen in the city since the turn of the century. Rioting continued in Belfast until September and a Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the violence indicted the Orange Order

"The Orange system seems to us now to have no other practical result than as a means of keeping up the Orange festivals and celebrating them; leading, as they do, to violence, outrage, religious animosities, hatred between the classes and, too often, bloodshed and loss of life."

In a letter to the Northern Whig newspaper in October 1857, Lord Chancellor Brady supported what the Royal Commission had said:

"It is manifest that the existence of this Orange Society, and the conduct of many who belong to it, tend to keep up, through large districts of the North, a spirit of bitter and factious hostility."

1859 saw four people appear in court as a result of disturbances in Portadown during an Orange march that July.

More serious was the result of an Orange march on July 12th 1860 at Derrymacash, situated between Lurgan and Portadown. A total of sixteen Catholic inhabitants were shot by those taking part in the parade, one of whom died later. A number of Catholic homes were wrecked and the Catholic chapel attacked. No Orangemen were injured, but, subsequently, twelve of them were found guilty of taking part in a riot at Derrymacash, and a thirteenth Orangeman was found guilty of the manslaughter of Thomas Murphy, the Catholic who died. At the inquest into Murphy's death, lawyers acting for the deceased's family unsuccessfully attempted to have members of the Orange Order barred from sitting on the jury.

The Derrymacash outrage led to the passing of an amended Party Processions Act in August 1860. The amended Act forbade the carrying of arms and wearing party colours in processions. Like previous legislation aimed at curtailing the activities of the Orange Order, it had little or no effect, particularly in County Armagh where many members of the judiciary, military and police, if not actual members of the Order, were either openly sympathetic to, or intimidated by, Orangeism.

Prior to the 1864 July parades, Lord Enniskillen, the Grand Master of the Orange Order issued an appeal to all Orangemen in which he said,

"I have heard, with much sorrow, a report that some of you have expressed an intention of celebrating our revered anniversaries by Processions and otherwise, in such a manner as to violate the Act of Parliament enacted against them.
"My earnest advice and request, therefore, brethren, is that you should strictly abstain from emblems, music, processions, and all other acts forbidden by law."

Needless to say, the Portadown Orangemen ignored their Grand Master's plea and paraded around the town unhindered by the authorities.

Although no major incidents were reported in Portadown, Belfast exploded in an cycle of sectarian violence which lasted eighteen days and left 12 people dead and over 100 others seriously injured.

The purely sectarian and anti-Catholic nature of the Orange Order was demonstrated vigorously in September, 1867. Orangemen, complete with bands and drumming parties, assembled outside St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Portadown's William Street during the annual mission retreat which had been organised by the Passionist Fathers. People were attacked on their way to and from chapel, and one of the priests was knocked unconscious. The parish priest, Fr. Hughes, was reported to have urged the men of the parish to band together for their own protection. The RIC Sub-Inspector for Portadown was later stated in the press as declaring that the number of men under his command were not sufficient to keep back the Orangemen.

Calls by a Protestant Justice of the Peace and by leading members of the town's Catholic community for extra police to be drafted into Portadown to deal with an Orange March in July 1873 went unheeded. The Orangemen paraded into the Catholic Obins Street area, provoking what one senior RIC man described as the worst riots he had witnessed anywhere in twenty years. Shots were fired by Orangemen, several business premises and many homes along the length of Obins Street were wrecked. 33 people were later charged with having taken part in an unlawful assembly and riot.

In December of that year, another Orange demonstration to commemorate the Relief of Derry, and attended by upwards of 3,000 Orangemen was held in the town. Orangemen paraded into William Street where the Catholic Church and parochial house were attacked and other Catholic-owned property damaged. An attempt by the Orange parade to enter Obins Street was prevented by police.

Following appeals from Catholic businessmen and clergy in Lurgan, magistrates there ordered the rerouting of an Orange parade away from the Catholic part of the town on July 12th 1877. It was stated in the House of Commons that the parade had been rerouted in order to prevent any breach of the peace. No such rerouting was ordered in Portadown where RIC reinforcements were drafted in and concentrated in Obins Street to ensure free passage for an Orange parade through the area on the same date.

Serious rioting erupted in 1879 when Orange parades passed through the Obins street area of the town on Easter Monday.

July also brought fresh outbreaks of trouble during an Orange march through the same area. Sectarian violence also occurred in 1880 and 1882 in the Obins Street area as a result of the marches.

In 1883 questions were asked in the House Of Commons regarding attacks upon the Catholic Church, Catholic homes and other Catholic-owned property in Portadown during an Orange march in that year.

Twenty seven people were charged with rioting and disorderly behaviour in Obins Street on the 12th and 13th of July 1886 when Orange marchers paraded through the district.

The conduct of Portadown Orangemen was again raised in the House of Commons in July 1887 when the Chief Secretary was questioned about an incident which occurred when the Orange Order had marched through Obins Street, under police escort, on their way to Drumcree on Sunday July 10th. It was stated that a Catholic man had been seriously injured by Orangemen as the police looked on.

Nine men from the Obins St. area appeared in court on September 29th 1891 charged with riotous behaviour. Most of the men were members of the Nationalist "Tunnel" Accordion Band. Apparently the Band had taken part in a Nationalist protest against Orange marches being allowed into that area of the town. The chairman of the court said that he thought the Orange march should not have been in the area.

While a large contingent of armed RIC men ensured no trouble took place on either Sunday 10th or Tuesday 12 July 1892 during Orange parades through Obins Street, only 14 police were on duty in the area on the 13th July. An estimated 2,000 members of the Orange Order and Black Preceptories returning from the Sham Fight in Scarva were due to parade through the small Catholic enclave that evening. Immediately upon the parade's entry into the area, at 6. 10 pm, vicious rioting broke out, with the Orange and Black-men running amok in the area and Catholic residents attempting to defend their homes. In the face of desperate resistance the marchers retreated, only to attempt another second march at around 7.00 pm. Again an intense period of rioting broke out which lasted around 30 minutes before the marchers were repulsed by the residents and the small RIC force. By 7.00 pm. the marchers again had regrouped ready for their third attempt to storm the area. This time they came armed and Catholics waiting for them at the "Tunnel" bridge fled when fired upon. The Orange and Black marchers then made their way halfway along the street smashing houses before the Catholic crowd charged them. The RIC, who had retreated to the barracks to arm themselves, reappeared and charged the marchers with fixed bayonets, driving the attackers out of the area for the third and final time. An extra 100 armed police were drafted into the area that night and more arrived the following morning.

On August 12th further trouble erupted in the town when the Apprentice Boys were prevented from marching through Obins Street. Violence erupted when the Apprentice Boys were forced by police to take an alternative route. Marchers and their supporters then proceeded to attack Catholic-owned property around the town.

During the following years, however, large forces of police escorted the Orange and other marches through the Obins Street area, placing the local residents under a virtual state of martial law. Those in charge of policing obviously believed it was more prudent to capitulate in the face of Orange violence than to protect and defend the rights of the town's Catholic community.

The anti-Catholic nature of the Order again raised its head at the opening of Derryhale Orange Hall in July 1899. The ceremony chaired by the Portadown District Master, W. J. Locke, who was also a Unionist politician and a Justice of the Peace. According to the local press, one speaker at the ceremony attacked those Portadown Protestants who employed, sold land or consorted with "Papist rebels", and one businessman was accused of "helping to plant Popery" in the town by selling land to Catholics "on which to build a nunnery."

Following severe disturbances at an Orange Rally in Portadown in 1900, the M.P. for Monaghan North, Mr. McAleese asked the Attorney General why there had been no convictions of the mob who had caused so much damage in the town. Catholic homes in William St. and Mary St., as well as St. Patrick's Hall in Thomas St. and the parochial house had been attacked during the disturbances.

A number of Nationalists appeared in court as a result of disturbances which had taken place when an Orange parade passed through Obins Street in July 1903.

An Orange parade through Obins Street on Easter Monday 1905 resulted in a Catholic man being shot dead. Patrick Faloon, a 36 year old father of four was standing alone in Woodhouse Street when Thomas Cordner, a Protestant factory worker, produced a revolver and fired at him. Faloon ran for the cover of nearby John Street but was shot in the back and died in his Curran Street home shortly afterwards. Two RIC men grabbed Cordner as he was about to fire a third shot at Faloon. As Cordner was being led to the Barracks a crowd of Orangemen attempted to rescue him. A fierce riot then ensued between the RIC and several hundred Orangemen. That evening police blocked the entrance to Obins Street, forcing a second Orange parade away from the area.

During 1906, 1907 and 1908, a number of people appeared in court on a variety of offenses arising out of incidents during Orange parades through Obins Street. The charges included riotous conduct, interfering with the Orange parade, obstruction and disorderly conduct. 1908 also saw more questions concerning Portadown asked in the House of Commons. Mr. P. O'Brien asked the Chief Secretary why no police were present to prevent trouble when an Orange Arch was erected in William Street, close to the local Catholic Church.

Questions in the House of Commons concerning the activities of the Orange Order in Portadown were becoming almost as frequent as their parades through Obins Street. In 1909, Mr. Joe Devlin, the M.P. for West Belfast, asked the Chief Secretary if he was aware that every year the Orange Order marched, with police protection, through an exclusively Catholic part of Portadown - even though there was an alternative route open to them - and questioned him on whether or not he was aware that, on the 13th July, they had paraded yet again, with the indulgence of the police, in a provocative manner through Obins Street, cursing the Pope, and playing party tunes. He said that a number of people had been injured in scuffles and shots were fired by the Orangemen while passing through the area. Referring to the arch in William Street, Mr. Devlin said that, to the annoyance of the Catholic residents of the street, Orangemen had been permitted to erect an arch only a few yards away from the Catholic Church, to parade playing party tunes, and to act in an most offensive manner opposite the Church.

The West Belfast MP claimed that "a perfect reign of terror had been established in Portadown against the Roman Catholics in the town" because of the biased police force. Devlin called for a searching inquiry to be held into police conduct and the behaviour of the Orangemen in William St. and Obins St. in July. The Chief Secretary, Mr. Birrell, said he had not sufficient information to give a detailed reply to Mr.Devlin's questions.

The Orange Order, therefore, had its origins in, and was formally established as a result of, the bitter sectarian clashes which erupted in County Armagh at the end of the 18th century. Far from becoming an organization which sought to bring an end to those sectarian divisions by positively seeking to implement the principle of 'civil and religious liberty' for all, the Order merely perpetuated and accentuated those divisions.

For over 100 years, the Order, through its demonstrations and the influence it wielded by the support of the gentry, has created animosity and strife; failed to abide by the laws of the land; and expressed its contempt for the authority of the British Parliament and Crown. That it successfully and repeatedly done so, led to a situation where the authorities were forced to capitulate and to accede to its demands, and where the legitimate rights of the Catholic community were no longer properly or effectively safeguarded by the state.

In 1913, the annual general meeting of Portadown Unionist Club was told by the secretary, J. A. Wilson, that 12 divisions of the Ulster Volunteer Force had been armed with rifles. Wilson thanked the Orange Order for allowing their halls to be used for drilling and training purposes. The triumvirate of Unionism, Orangeism and paramilitarism again led to another British government being forced to capitulate in the face of threats and undemocratic demands. This time the issue was that of Home Rule and through it, the possible loss of prestige and power which the Orange/Unionist leadership had enjoyed for so long.

1917 again saw disturbances over the Orange marches with a number of Catholics being arrested when the parades passed through Obins Street. An interesting comment was made at the county demonstration in Drumgor when the Rev. Dr. O'Loughlin, Dean of Dromore, expressed his disappointment at the hesitancy of the loyal brethren to volunteer for service in the war in Europe.

Few reports are available on the marches during the next decade and a half. In July 1923, an editorial in the Irish News in response to continuing sectarian violence stated,

"The vicious circle will never be broken while the Orange Institution exists to carry on the despicable game of "civil and religious liberty" as an easy means of bulldozing the workers by appealing to artificial and facetious feelings of antagonism to those who differ from them in their religious and political views."

With the partition of Ireland and the establishment of a Unionist Government in the North, the role and power of the Orange Order had reached its zenith. Not only had the Order members in the actual Government, its influence now spread through all walks of life, backed up by a fully armed militia in the form of the RUC and the notorious "B" Specials, the members of which were almost exclusively Orangemen.

These forces had at their disposal one of the most draconian pieces of legislation ever designed - the Special Powers Act. This allowed for people to be arrested and detained without reason or without little or no possibility of legal redress; to ban public meetings, censor newspapers and proscribe political parties and political activities. In was frequently used in a wholly partisan manner against the Catholic/ Nationalist population of the Six Counties to effectively suppress any dissent or opposition from that quarter towards the Orange and Unionist statelet.

David Rock, a leading member of both the Orange and Black Institutions, was the District Commandant of the "B" Specials in the years after partition. He is described in the official history of Portadown Orangeism as a man whose influence was felt not only in Portadown but throughout County Armagh.

A series of sectarian murders of Catholics carried out in County Armagh and elsewhere during the 1920's have been widely attributed to members of the "B" Specials.

R. J. Hewitt, appointed Sub-Divisional Commander of the "B" Specials in Portadown in 1943, was another leading Orangeman.

1931 saw major street disturbances in Portadown again. On Saturday 15th August a loyalist mob waited for the return of two buses bringing local Nationalists back from an A.O.H. demonstration in Armagh City. The loyalists followed the buses to Obins Street where local people had assembled awaiting their return. Only a few police were on hand, and a riot ensued with the loyalists being forced away from Obins St. by the Nationalists. The loyalist crowd then went on the rampage around the town, attacking and destroying Catholic-owned property and severely beating at least three Catholics. Such was the extent of the rioting that the local magistrates considered introducing a curfew. For the following week all pubs were closed at 7.00 pm, people ordered off the streets at dusk, and no crowds were permitted to congregate. There were no more major incidents but, according to some people who can vividly recall that period, the local Catholic population felt as if they were in a state of siege for some considerable time afterwards.

In 1932 thousands of Catholics from throughout the Six Counties travelled by train to Dublin for the International Eucharistic Congress. Portadown was the central rail junction for the North and, as all trai