THERE was something rotten at the core of Orangeism, Mr David Norris (Ind), told the Seanad yesterday. The rottenness was its essentially sectarian nature and the awful neurotic certainty that went with it.
Contributing to the debate on Northern Ireland, Mr Norris strongly criticised the behaviour of the Church of Ireland during the Drumcree standoff last summer. Property of the Church of Ireland, of which he was a practising member, had been used and church personnel had been involved in events which were inevitably destined to cause disharmony, civil strife and potentially large scale casualties, he said.
"To permit any form of religious sanction in the present situation was totally wrong. Just as in the case of the opening of the tunnel in the old city of Jerusalem by the Israeli authorities the question is not whether it has been done before or whether there was a legal precedent or entitlement, the question was one of sensitivity to the perception of the surrounding population."
While he recognised it was unlikely that church authorities could legally have prevented the rector from permitting these events, why had the church authorities been silent on the matter?
"Why did the Church of Ireland not officially through its primate and its bishops dissociate itself from such events and condemn them outright? Were they afraid of alienating elements within their congregation and if so, should they not have asked themselves would the founder of their church, Jesus Christ, who scourged the money changers out of the temple, not have been prepared to risk this alienation? Where is the prophetic voice of my church? I would like also to ask how it is that it is tolerable for members of the Church of Ireland and in particular clergymen to give assent to the tenets of the Orange Order or to remain members of such a group as long as the aims, objectives and practices of that group are so nakedly sectarian and anti ecumenical."
Mr Norris said that for the republican side to resort once more to the abysmal depths of violence witnessed recently at Lisburn showed they had not learnt a fundamental lesson of democracy and that they were to put it mildly, both trigger happy and politically irresponsible".
He believed it was essential for the leadership of Sinn Fein to separate themselves clearly and unambiguously from the action of the self styled army with which they had to date acted in guilty concert. Such a stance might require some courage. However, bin electoral terms it seemed that it would be popular even with their own supporters.
Recent demands from republican sources for calm and logical debate needed to be placed in the context of the highly abusive, sectarian and racist tones of their own publication, An Phoblacht.
"As long as this journal peddles its message of hate and contempt how can anyone take seriously claims of the republican movement to be interested in genuine brotherhood with those whom it regards and describes as sub human?"
. Leper colony status had been imposed on three Irish counties by the new beef export restrictions, some Opposition members complained in the Seanad yesterday.
Mr Sean Byrne (FF) said the Six Counties had been extended to nine in terms of partition because of the ban on beef from counties Tipperary, Cork and Monaghan.
Mr Michael Fineran (FF) said there had been only three outbreaks of BSE in Monaghan compared with four in the Minister's own constituency of Wexford.