Church of Ireland snubs Orange parade
The Church of Ireland in Newtownbutler, County Fermanagh has
dropped an Orange band parade from i's annual parish event in the
village and the news has been welcomed by local nationalists.
The decision came after a meeting in Newtownbutler between the
Parades Commission and members of the Newtownbutler Area
Residents Association (NARA) on Thursday 5 June.
The band parade had developed over the years into a
`mini-Twelfth' as it was usually held in the week before the 12
July Orange parades. However this year the church will hold a
parish fete in August and drop the band parade altogether.
The parade was a source of anger to nationalist residents who
sought meetings with the Orange Order and the Black Preceptory to
have it stopped, but the Orangemen refused to talk. Now the
Church has taken the decision to drop the parade.
Mediation is continuing about other loyalist parades in the
Fermanagh village which sees a number of parades during the
Orange marching season, although as yet the Orange Order and the
Black Preceptory have yet to answer three letters sent by NARA.
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