From the BBC:
“Twelfth of
July: Thousands taking part in Orange Order parades”
(Chief
Constable Simon Byrne out on patrol in north Belfast ahead of the Twelfth
parades)
Thousands of
people are marching at 18 locations across Northern Ireland to mark the Twelfth
of July. The annual Orange Order parades celebrate the Battle of the Boyne,
when William of Orange - also known as King Billy - defeated the Catholic King
James II in 1690. On 12 July, marching bands from Orange lodges parade through
villages, towns and cities. The night before, hundreds of bonfires are lit
across Northern Ireland. Known as the Eleventh Night, it is usually one of the
busiest nights of the year for the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service but
it has recorded a fall in the number of bonfire-related call-outs.
The 11 and 12
July also involve the largest policing operation mounted each year. More than one third of the Police Service of
Northern Ireland (PSNI) - 2,500 officers - are on duty The 24-hour operation
has cost more than £1m in previous years. Police estimate that 250 bonfires are
lit on 11 July and 580 parades take place on 12 July. Twelfth of July parades
were called off in 2020 because of Covid-19.
In 2021,
smaller parades were held due to the pandemic, but 2022 is a return to the full
traditional programme. The grand secretary of the Orange Order, the Reverend
Mervyn Gibson, said he was looking forward to a "great day" after the
limited events in 2020 and 2021. "We had a Twelfth at home and then a
Twelfth near home. This day, the Twelfth's coming home," he told BBC News
NI's Good Morning Ulster. Twelfth demonstrations are being held in: Glenarm,
Ballymena, Bushmills, Antrim, Cullybackey, Magheragall, Armagh, Belfast,
Ballygowan, Greyabbey, Newry, Ballymartin, Enniskillen, Limavady, Tobermore,
Castlecaulfield, Omagh and Aughnacloy. Thousands of people have turned out for
the parade in Limavady, with 15 lodges and 11 bands taking part. The parade
includes the Coleraine and Macosquin districts, the City of Londonderry Grand
Orange Lodge, as well as members from east Donegal. Some 60 lodges took part in
the event in Antrim town, which is hosting the east Antrim demonstration for
the first time in 12 years.
Orange Order
members in Armagh were joined by 65 bands accompanied by bagpipes, flutes, and
the Lambeg drum. Maguiresbridge District and Silver Band led the parade in
Enniskillen, with lodges from throughout Fermanagh joined by brethren and bands
from Donegal, Leitrim, Cavan and Monaghan. The parade paused at the Enniskillen
war memorial where a wreath was laid on behalf of County Fermanagh loyal Orange
institutions. The traditional Rossnowlagh parade in the Republic of Ireland
took place on 9 July. In June, BBC Northern Ireland said that after careful
consideration it had decided not to resume live coverage of Belfast's Twelfth
of July parade. The Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland voiced its "immense
disappointment". The Belfast demonstration will be covered in an hour-long
BBC programme on Tuesday evening, featuring events at eight locations. GB News
broadcast this year's parade live from Armagh city with former Democratic
Unionist Party leader Dame Arlene Foster as lead commentator. Meanwhile, the
Department of Health has appealed to the public to be patient when using health
and social care services over the Twelfth holiday period. In a statement, it
said rising Covid infections were once again having an impact on staff absences
in health and social care and that more people with Covid were being admitted
to hospitals.
^ Last night
was Eleventh Night in Northern Ireland. That’s when Protestants build huge
bonfires and burn Catholic symbols (pictures of the Pope, the Rosary, etc.)
Note: the Catholics don’t build bonfires and don’t burn Protestant symbols.
Today is the Twelfth
– when the Protestants parade through Catholic neighborhoods to assert the Protestant
Ascendancy - the belief that Protestants
are superior over Catholics.
There is
always violence and destruction every year – think the KKK marching in a Black neighborhood
or Neo-Nazis marching through a Jewish neighborhood – and it is permitted by
both the Northern Irish Government in Belfast and the British Government in
London.
Protestants
gained equal Civil Rights in Northern Ireland in 1922 (on equal status with the
Scots, the Welsh and the English) when the Island of Ireland was divided by the
British.
Catholics didn’t
gain equal Civil Rights in Northern Ireland until the Good Friday Agreement in
1998 and they had to fight decades for it.
When I was in
Northern Ireland in June 2010 you could see huge bonfires being built in
Protestant areas overlooking Catholic areas even though the Eleventh and the Twelfth
were weeks away. That’s how much hatred the Protestants continue to have
against the Catholics.
The Governments
of the United Kingdom (and the other 14 Commonwealth Realms (Canada, Australia,
New Zealand, the Bahamas, Jamaica, etc.) continue the Protestant Ascendancy over
the Catholics, Jews, etc. since only a Protestant can be the King or Queen. All
other religions are officially seen as 2nd class citizens not
capable of leading the nation.
There is no
Separation of Church and State. ^
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