11.07.1996

Another ‘peace’ blip

Last Sunday the Royal Ulster Constabulary refused to let an Orange march pass through a predominantly nationalist area of the village of Drumcree. The stand-off which followed sparked loyalist protests over the Six Counties at this denial of ‘protestant cultural traditions’.

The Orange Order was founded in 1795 and symbolises the victory of William of Orange at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690. Although it apparently exists as a celebration of Protestantism, being explicitly anti-Catholic in its practice as well as its custom, its main role has been in support of British imperialism.

It provides the British with the ideological cover to maintain their occupation of the Six Counties and thus their domination of the whole of Ireland. As well as the orange sash, members of the order like to parade wearing their ridiculous ‘British’ bowler hats and carrying their rolled-up umbrellas. The union flag is predominantly displayed.

This ‘culture’ is therefore based on the denial of the rights of the nationalists. The loyalist working class has acted as a labour aristocracy, maintaining its own ‘privileges’ at the expense of those rights.

The British have always attempted to keep Orange bigotry within the bounds of what it considers necessary to maintain bourgeois stability. While state forces have usually been employed to ensure that loyalist marches can proceed against nationalist objections, occasionally they have been used to block them at politically sensitive times.

The present imperialist ‘peace process’ demands that Orange ‘excesses’ and provocations are not allowed free rein. While a new imperialist order is being painstakingly constructed as Sinn Fein and the IRA are drawn towards agreement, it is vital that Britain can claim to be even-handed between loyalist and republican.

John Major must keep up the pretence that the Six County conflict is not about the Irish right to self-determination and freedom from British occupation, but is waged between protestant and catholic bigots with Britain playing the role of honest peace-broker.

Like the London and Manchester bombs, the stand-off at Drumcree is another blip on the road towards the imperialist-imposed ‘peace’ settlement.

Jim Blackstock