Orange Order Parade’s spark further violence in Northern Ireland

I have a solution! STOP having the Orange Order Parades!!!! Duh!

Being a American Irishman I really get sick hearing about the Orange Order and their gay march every year. I wonder how these nasty teeth having British would feel about us Americans having parades and parties to celebrate the arse kicking we gave Cornhole Jackson and his British soldiers here on American soil. The thought of the Orange idiots rubbing salt in the Irish wounds every year is stupid period. This parade is nothing more than a opportunity to spread hate and remind everyone about the past. There will never be peace in Northern Ireland until the day every Austin Powers tooth looking British person leaves Ireland. The British are a cancer to any country and the cancer needs to be treated.

Here's a better idea. Start gathering up fabric to make a clown version of the Orange Order's clothing. Should be fun. and then learn to do the make up. As many versions as possible. Next time the Orange Order marches through your neighborhood, but on yer orange duds and big shoes and - oh yeah - you need some funny drums - and follow the parade - or at least GREET it.

This is perhaps the most perplexing news to come out of Northern Ireland in some time; when last I was there, there had been a few killings by dissident groups railing against the Peace Process & Agreement. I think what both sides need to decide is whether they are more willing to live and let live in this Century, or keep heaping controversy and hateisms. While Catholics have every right to feel that the Orange Order parades are hurtful and a constant reminder of a time that no longer exists (the Battle was how many decades ago?), they do themselves no honor by rioting. By the same token, the Orange Order is a bit insensitive to their neighbors' feelings and they promote the victory annually, which could be seen as rubbing the Catholic noses in it, and yet they have a right to celebrate. If one considers that Catholics and Protestants stood together as neighbors during the Civil Rights Movement, and thirteen died on Bloody Sunday for their right to have parades in Derry, it makes it even more abundantly clear that the OO Parades don't just represent William of Orange's Victory over James, but rather a time when human rights were restricted because one (Catholic minority) would not align themselves with one religion over another (Protestant), nor a foreign ruling country (England)country over their own. The OO Parades, in some ways, remind one that the North is still divided by what is Irish and what is British, what is Catholic and what is Protestant, but worse what is right or what is wrong.

@ Fran Connor: you are entitled to your opinion as are the rest of the guys here, all i'm saying is that there is no excuse for this rioting, shooting at police & hijacking vehicles. People are destroying their own community and costing jobs in these already dire economic times.

The marches should be banned.

@ ganjadec: No it's not the same thing at all, the O.O don't murder people! Of all the parades throughout the north of ireland on the 12th july only one was controversial. It had to pass by ardoyne shops because there was no alternative route that could have avoided passing an even larger catholic area. It was only 150 Meters at most and takes less than 5 minutes to pass.

What have the police proposed as a solution.I'm tired of hearing excuses and reasons. I'd like to hear ideas NEW ideas that could be explored.

People need to realise that if the O.O stopped trying to march through and over Nationalist areas, this would not happen. How would Jews react if Nazis were allowed to walk past their front door, or blacks if the KKK came calling? And yes, it is the same thing.

@semperfidelis: I'm not saying the Order are angels, far from it but you guys are all blaming the O.O. for these riots when according to Sinn Fein the real reason is that dissidents are stirring up trouble. These riots were happening a day before the parades and again last night, a day after the parades when there wasn't an orangeman in sight. There were riots in towns, villages & cities where there were NO controversial parades. The one & only parade that was controversial was a 100 metre walk past a row of storefronts of Ardoyne which was the ONLY possible route and takes two minutes to walk past. The real IRA and others are using kids to riot, I mean some as young as six or seven are plainly seen on TV! Where are the parents here?? Do you think these kids & teenagers are thinking about politics? It's recreational thuggery.

These guys are all a bunch of thugs! Why give the Orange Order any attention? That's what they want! And the rioters? Both sides are a disgrace! Doesn't anyone understand that the average person just wants some peace?!

Right citizen69,as everybody knows, the orangemen are all good sunday go to meeting lads. It's those damn Mary worshipping Fenians that resent triumphial marches celebrating a nearly 400 year old battle going through their neighborhoods every summer that causes the problem. I wish we had something like this every year in Texas, maybe we should invite some peace loving folks to march on the Alamo every march, to celebrate santa anna's victory and show the rest of the world how very tolerant we've become.

Hi ritmomente, this rioting is not really about the Orange marches going through catholic areas. There were riots in various towns around the north where parades went NOWHERE near catholic areas. The Ormeau Road is a such an example, it was blocked off by republican rioters... There was NO orange march down the nationalist end of the Ormeau road. It's dissident activists trying to destroy the peace process. I have never seen effigies of "notable catholics of the day" being burned as was claimed here on IC but admittedly some loyalists do burn tricolours atop their bonfires but that has nothing to do with the Orange Order. By the way, during Republican Internment bonfires, Northern Ireland flags and Union Jacks are burned.

citizen69, the Orangemen have to stop marching through Catholic neighborhoods. And why are they still burning in effigy every notable Catholic of the day? If they want to march through their own neighborhood and bang those massive drums, that's fine. There is also absolutely no excuse for these dissident republicans. Why can't they breathe in peace? The Ormeau Road was blocked off????? I walked down that road at Christmastime. Belfast is one of the coolest cities in the world but will go back to hell if both groups are not contained.

Actually no protestants were involved in any of the rioting. It was orchestrated by dissident republicans to cause trouble and raise tensions during the parades. Sinn Fein have said it was mainly organized by dissidents from outside of these areas encouraging youths to riot in an attempt to create conflict.