Eames to decide if lodge meets Drumcree criteria

The Church of Ireland Primate, Dr Robin Eames, said yesterday he received on Monday a response from Portadown Orangemen to his request that they abide by three pledges before being welcome at Drumcree church again.

Last October he had said that before a Christian welcome could be extended to them at any future service in Drumcree they would have to agree to "the avoidance of any action before or after the service which diminishes the sanctity of that worship".

They would have to agree "obedience to the law of the land before and after the service" and to show "respect for the integrity of the Church of Ireland by word and action and the avoidance of the use of all church property or its environs in any civil protest following the service".

In his presidential address to the General Synod in Dublin yesterday, Dr Eames said that in a letter dated May 14th the Portadown Orangemen said that, after lengthy consideration of the three pledges, "the District Lodge would contend that it has at no time encouraged, sanctioned or condoned any action before or after the service which diminishes the sanctity of that worship."

The Orangemen continued: "The District Lodge has always encouraged their membership and the wider community to obey the law of the land, while at the same time reserving the right to peacefully protest at the denial of our fundamental civil liberties, rights and freedoms which are universally enshrined in human rights charters." They added: "Since its inception, this lodge has always shown respect for church property."

Dr Eames told the Synod that he had had insufficient time to consider whether the Portadown Orangemen's response met the full criteria of his "entirely reasonable requests". The fact remained, he said, that in the light of all that had happened at Drumcree many people within and without the Church of Ireland would not want a Christian welcome extended to the lodges for a service in July.

The real question for members of the Orange Order was whether they wished to be regarded as members of a religious or a political movement, he said.

He warned that "unless there is a clear alteration in attitude, the Portadown lodges are on a collision course with the churches."