Orange marches belfast

[Pippin24]

I’m visiting Belfast today to see extended family. My dad’s family are from Ireland/n Ireland I try to get over a few times per year. I’m in my aunts house and we had planned a picnic in the garden which has steadily been interrupted by orange bands marching up a down a road not far from her. It’s a terrible noise and apart from the assault to the ears seems entirely pointless- I cannot believe in this day and age this is still happening.

it’s a mixed area faith wise and my aunt is so embarrassed about it. My husband has just arrived back from a walk where he managed to see some of the march and has informed me that there are a shit ton of the marchers drinking - singing anti catholic/Irish songs and generally behaving badly. Surely there are rules around this? Grown men with younger kids marching drunk and causing a disturbance. Culture is one thing - this isn’t it. Rant over!

I never realised Liverpool got them until I was working there in July last year and was woken up from a nightshift by one.

I could have sworn we did it - well, Irish history, at GCSE.

(I can't remember what point it stopped at though).

I could be wrong (at least I hope I am!) but I’m fairly certain that it’s not taught anymore. DD went to the most diverse grammar school in NI and I remember backlash from pupils + parents about being denied the teaching of Irish history/the troubles until A level.

My view is that anyone who wants to march or celebrate their culture in public in NI should hire a stadium to do it, and not antagonise their neighbours

It's not a bad idea, @allthevitamins, but I doubt this would go down well with the knuckledraggers to whom "antagonising their neighbours" appears to be the entire point

Threads like this make me glad me and my family live in London/England

I don't follow football but there are two teams in Scotland and from the little I read, their games are toxic because of religious affiliations. Again I'm glad I live in London

The practice is outdated and if I had my way - I'd ban them A-Sap
FYI, I'm not catholic

I’m surprised that you think only “staunch”
areas try to have their kerbstones painted - from a conversation today with my aunt it would appear it’s one side trying to assert dominance over the other in a mixed area. Politics and NI was not something discussed a lot in my home. My family are quiet folk with a welcome for everyone. It’s not about people complaining- it’s about future proofing NI so all the young people aren’t leaving it!

im a visitor here - as is my DH - he saw blatant sectarianism whilst out for a walk. That’s the impression visitors are getting. That NI is not progressive. I have family from both sides all over NI and ROI. Not one would condone any form of discrimination. It’s just sad is all.

They will see its as 'discrimiantion and infringement of their human rights' but F the rest who have to suffer their marches

OP, please stop trying to pretend that you know better than people that actually live here. It’s embarrassing.

I've never understood how they are still a thing either when they are based on hate.

The parades are not about "hate" to many of the people involved in organising them.

I know plenty of eg farmers who are Orangemen but are friendly to and help out, if required, eg. Catholic farmer neighbours.

You don't understand the mentality.

This stuff is insidious.

I used to live in a town in the Midlands with a large Scots-born population (Don't bother asking if it starts with _ you're probably right). One day I was passing a market stall selling personalised leather items and heard a young mother ask her small child if they wanted a bracelet with "King Billy" embossed on it. The child said no. The mother was of an age that it was probably her grandparents that had moved to the town so she was probably 2nd generation Scots and at least another 2 from NI.

The town, despite being in England, had an Orange Walk, maybe still does. One of our neighbours had a son who played the big drum. When the parade was finished, he would go out in the garden and bang all night.

Thankfully my immediate neighbour was a 6' 4" Irish prop forward who played the bagpipes. There was no competition and peace soon reigned. 😄

I'm surprised to hear that too.

I always had the impression that the Irish emigrants to Liverpool were almost exclusively Catholic folks who were probably more inclined to be sympathetic to Irish nationalism, but evidently the emigration patterns were a lot more complex than that.

😂do you support these marches? Why are you so angry at me giving my opinion.? Im not in the least embarrassed- I’m talking as an outsider and what I viewed as happening today. And the impression that’s gives to visitors.

I'm not a fan of them although my 3 brothers are orangemen. I'm sure most of them are bigots but the orange order actually do a lot of good-they were really proactive for the community during Covid helping out older folk (of any or no religion), in rural communities & donated significant sums to hospitals in Ireland, both north & south without publicity.

The issue with anti social behaviour is mostly linked to the bands with younger players, (kick the pope bands as they used to be known), & other folk who like a drink going to the parades for something to do. Like a pp said, it's like football hooligans & doesn't reflect on the majority of fans.

The police should definitely caution anyone singing antagonistic songs & there should be sanctions but peace here is such a volatile thing that maybe they've assessed it's normally better not to stir things up?

Catholics were very welcome at parades in my town & there was so little else to do that we often went with catholic friends. The disruption of roads & traffic is hella annoying though.

That’s the impression visitors are getting. That NI is not progressive.

It's not.

The "troubles" only ceased relatively recently and the politics is still a mess.

This reminds me, in a slightly different way, of Kit Harington - who otherwise seems loveky - saying that Belfast is boring and not somewhere you'd want to spend much time ...... Clearly he missed the fact that Belfast was, as the capital, at the centre of something approaching a civil.war until a relatively very short time ago. His ignorance and subsequent judgement was ......smh.

We get Silver Bands round these parts (Devon), I think it might be linked to the Chapel movement - though generally not as noisy as the Pipe Bands, due to some Scottish people coming to help the local transition from wooden to metal shipbuilding.

Love them all, none creates any angst, although I understand why some might feel aggrieved at Orange Marches in NI. The same Marches in Scotland are just plain daft, they're no more than English Morris Dancers and should be treated as such. An amusement.....

All these marches require permission and they are strictly regulated. As a family we look forward to the marching season and the various related church services.

We stayed in Belfast a few years ago and it was most odd / interesting to see matching

Lighthearted but this reminds me of the Derry Girls episode in July which is hilarious and sad at the same time. The flight to the “free state” in July was real at the time.
I hope this is soon a thing of the past in NI.

I hope this is soon a thing of the past in NI.

I hope so too but I don't see it happening any time soon.

I've been away for over 40 years, I just hated living in a society like that.

No, I do not support these marches but you are not simply giving your opinion. You are implying that you know better than people that actually live here, which you very obviously do not. All of your comments scream absolute ignorance and naivety and I suggest you go and actually educate yourself before coming out with more ludicrous statements.

he saw blatant sectarianism whilst out for a walk

"Where's your girlfriend from?" (To my polish catholic boyfriend of the time) ... "X place" (known to be mostly protestant) .. "Oh, she's a fucking Hun!".

Young man in town centre bar asks me repeated questions about my name and where I'm from originally, I answer, he points down at my head from above and shouts "She's a Hun, we've got a Hun here!". My Austrian companion, who invited me out for drinks in his group, is non plussed and I have to explain to her.

My Polish bf is friendly to one of the few protestants working in his workplace (because the guy is kind and friendly to him), his work colleague says "don't give the time of day to him, he's a prod, they're all black bastards, you can't trust them".

My uni friend's Mum, when I'm trying to be polite & interested about her talking about her pilgrimmage trip to a place I hadn't heard of, calls me a "Wee Prod".

My uncle, before his family moved out of an area that was originally mixed but is now 99.9% catholic, was trapped as a child under a trolley and pissed on by boys who decided they hated him because he was a "prod".

The entire side (of a river) of our hometown was emptied of protestants .... With only one tiny enclave left near the city centre, because protestants didn't feel safe living there any more.

As a female, I didnt even get the worse of it .... Because mostly they would never beat up women, but it used to be unsafe for Protestant men to socialise in large parts of my hometown.

I have no idea why you are surprised about any sectarianism in NI.

You just seem naive, at best. Like most people who aren't from here.

Which idyllic place in the uk are you looking down upon us from op ?

Hi all I’m just going to weigh in here. I’m from a very republican area in Belfast - I went to school in the falls road all my school career. I agree with the OP - visitors judge us on what they see. Also Dunmurry is mixed but there have been several attempts to paint kerbs in recent years . It’s a dominance thing so it’s just wrong to say that OPs family just live in areas where this is the norm. A friend of mines family is affiliated with the OO and I can tell you his family are lovely people. They will openly tell you there is an undercurrent in lots of Belfast lodges of absolute hatred for RC and people of colour, gay people etc.

ive lived through the troubles, had my house raided by police, been caught in bomb scares, rioting etc, as OP said we can’t afford to keep living in the past - we need to move on. I don’t think matches of any sort should be allowed- republican or loyalist. Time to start new traditions

All the parades in NI today.

One of the worst atrocities associated with 12th July was the murder of Richard, Mark and Jason Quinn on 12th July 1998. They were 10, 9 and 7 years old when they were burnt to death when UVF members petrol bombed their home. The firebombing took place at the height of tensions over the Orange parade passing through a Catholic area of Portadown.