Sir, - Seldom have I read as convoluted and self-contradictory a defence of the Orange Order's position on Drumcree as Ruth Dudley Edwards's (The Irish Times, June 30th). She expresses distaste at Orangemen being labelled as "the Ku Klux Klan or neo-Nazis" whilst attacking what she terms "republican fascism". She argues for an understanding of Orange culture, but shows contempt for Gaelic culture by refusing to use Breandan Mac Cionnaith's chosen form of his name (and, incidentally, the form used by your reporters), and instead refers to Brendan McKenna.
At every opportunity, Edwards indulges in biased and extremely loaded language. She contrasts a "GAA cavalcade" with a "little church parade". Unionist residents are simply "residents", whilst nationalist residents are "so-called residents". Negative descriptions of nationalists abound. They are "bellicose", "intransigent" and "bogus". Her description of Mac Cionnaith as "rebarbative" is utterly offensive (the Oxford Dictionary defines the word as "repellent, unattractive").
None are so blind as those who refuse to see. Her complete lack of critical analysis prevents her from questioning the validity of statements made by various unionist or Orange representatives. She quotes a "senior Orangeman" as saying "what the Order does will probably be irrelevant". This is nonsense. If the Order would accept the decision of the Parades Commission and ask its members to abide by the rule of law, rather than encouraging civil disorder and mass intimidation of the nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road, a crisis might be averted.
Finally, nowhere in her article does she address the issue of why Orangemen feel they must parade through nationalist communities. It has nothing to do with expression of culture, and everything to do with displaying dominance and the very same arrogance of which her "Presbyterian minister from Antrim" accuses Sinn Fein.
I know what I am talking about. On the "Glorious Twelfth" a few years ago in Belfast, I crossed High Street as the Orangemen returned to East Belfast. For this transgression I was chased by one of their loyal members who screamed in my face "how dare you walk in front of the Orangemen, you bastard" before proceeding to smash his walking stick across my skull. For that Orangeman, the streets were his, not mine. This is what Edwards refuses to grasp in her sadly depressing reinforcement of illogical sectarian fear.
Nobody wishes to see Orange "identity and way of life under threat". Unfortunately, Edwards seems incapable of making the intellectual distinction between "identity" and the irrational need to assert that identity by trampling on the sensibilities of non-unionists. - Yours, etc., Liam Carson,
Rialto, Dublin 8.