Presbyterian resolution calls on all to obey Parades Commission

A resolution calling on all involved in contentious parades in the North to abide by the decisions of the Parades Commission was passed by the Presbyterian General Assembly in Belfast yesterday. More Orangemen in the North are believed to be members of the Presbyterian Church than any other denomination.

The debate was dominated by events at Drumcree. The assembly also passed a resolution calling for the implementation of the Belfast Agreement in "both the letter and [the] spirit".

The Drumcree-related resolution read: "That, in the matter of contentious disputes between residents' groups and those who wish to parade, the general assembly call upon all concerned to treat one another with generosity, understanding and respect and further encourage them to discuss their disagreements with one another; to co-operate fully with the Parades Commission and, in the event of no agreement being reached, to abide by the lawfully taken determinations of the Parades Commission."

In proposing the general board resolution Rev Dr John Dunlop quoted the former moderator, Dr John Dixon, who said the assembly was "meeting at a defining moment in our island's history".

Much of what had seemed possible "will be either consolidated or seriously threatened in the next few weeks", Dr Dunlop said. In such a volatile situation "people should not be planning parades and protests which they cannot control". The Grand Orange Lodge policy of non-co-operation with the Parades Commission was unhelpful to the situation and themselves. It was time for people to discuss their disagreements.

The Rev William Bingham, deputy grand chaplain to the Grand Orange Lodge and grand chaplain to the County Lodge in Armagh, told the assembly: "We are entering the most difficult and dangerous period of all of the last five years." He condemned the violence of the past year, saying: "There is no place within Orangeism for such evil behaviour."

The assembly needed to give more support "to the many members who are in the [Orange] Order and want to steer it in the right direction". It needed to understand why someone like himself could not sit down with Sinn Fein-oriented residents groups when many young men of his congregation were in graveyards, victims of IRA violence. As constituted he had no faith in the Parades Commission "and would find it extremely difficult to fully engage with it". But, he said: "We have a divine obligation to obey the law whatever we may think of it, but that must also be balanced by the right to protest against a bad law in a peaceful and lawful manner."

The Rev Brian Kennaway, education convenor with the Orange Order, said that "having public protests which result in the injury and death of members of Her Majesty's security forces must bring shame on any organisation which professes to be both Christian and loyal", he said. In such a volatile situation as existed now, those who called people onto the streets must accept responsibility for the consequences, he said.

Rev Warren Porter, former grand chaplain to the Grand Lodge, said he would take the gravest exception to any suggestions that the Orange Order had a monopoly on hate. It had its quota of "binheads", as had the assembly, he said, "but many of us grieve at what is being done in the name of Orangemen".