Are the protests exposing deeper fault-lines within the broad unionist family?
There is a difference between the unwillingness of some lodges to create disruptions in their own areas and the feeling that splits are emerging within the Orange Order as to how it should operate. Many districts will be careful to do nothing which might draw attention to their own marching routes. Tradition is as valuable to one district as it is to another, and to put their traditional route in jeopardy by causing problems in the area will not be considered acceptable to many of them. There are, though, apparent differences of opinion and approach. In the simplest form, the refusal of Harold Gracey to condemn the violence which has broken out across the province in recent days has dismayed many other Orangemen. By and large, this is an organisation of god-fearing citizens, who believe in tolerance, in peace and in charity. Secondly, though, some Orangemen believe that the issue of the parades is not the be-all-and-end-all of the organisation. And that, if the order is to survive, eve
