Unionist parades
The majority of parades in Northern Ireland (nearly 70% in 2003/4) are organised by Protestant or unionist groups, and thus some sections of the community have tended to see attempts to restrict parades as an attack on Protestant or unionist culture. Parades by these sections of the community typically take place on Saturdays. This means that participants and spectators do not have to take time off work, and avoid parading on Sunday, which some Protestants believe should only be spent on purely religious activities. The only exceptions to this are the 12th of July, which is held on the same date each year, (unless the 12th falls on a Sunday, in which case it is postponed to Monday the 13th) and church parades, which are held on Sunday.
Orange Walk
The Orange Institution holds hundreds of parades throughout Northern Ireland every year.The biggest of these are usually on the twelfth of July ('The Twelfth'), in commemoration of the Battle of the Boyne. Individual lodges also parade at various times of the year, particularly leading up to the Twelfth from the start of June. Parades in memory of the dead of World War I, particularly the 36th (Ulster) Division at the Battle of the Somme are held in July and November. Junior lodges from Armagh, South Tyrone and Fermanagh parade annually at the end of May. On the last Saturday in October, Reformation Day is celebrated with the year's last major Orange parades. In Belfast, these proceed to Saint Anne's Cathedral for a church service.
Apprentice Boys
The Apprentice Boys of Derry exist in commemoration of the Siege of Derry in the seventeenth century. The Boys' biggest celebration is on the Saturday nearest the 12th of August each year, in commemoration of the lifting of the siege. They also parade on the Saturday nearest 18 December, in commemoration of the original apprentice boys shutting the gates of the town against King James II's troops, and at Easter. Most Apprentice Boys' parades are held in the city of Derry.
Royal Black Institution
The main parade of the Royal Black Institution is held on the last Saturday of August and is known as Last or Black Saturday. This was originally held on the 12th of August in commemoration of the end of the Siege of Derry, but in the 1950s the date of the event was moved. Local parades are held in Belfast in the two weeks beforehand. Its other major event is the 'sham fight' at Scarva on the 13th of July, in which an actor playing William of Orange ritually defeats an actor playing James II, thus re-enacting the victory of the Williamite forces at the Battle of the Boyne.
If every City/Town/Village across the UK were to hold parades celebrating every skirmish that has occurred since the 17th Century, the whole place would be permanently gridlocked.
What warped part of Protestant/Unionist mentality exists that prolongs this desperate, and frankly quite puerile and pathetic, need for triumphalism?
Insecurity on a massive scale it appears. Would the French countenance the Marching through Paris of former members of the Wehrmacht to celebrate the Blitzkrieg of 1940, or would the Germans allow the Russians to parade through Berlin with banners flying and drums beating to commemorate the winning of WWII?
Most people can move on and leave ancient rivalries and differences behind them, even in a couple of generations.
What is so different in the minds of the Loyalist community in NI? Not enough chlorine in the gene pool if you ask me!!
Discuss..........or ignore as applicable.
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