As Northern Ireland faces another crucial moment in its history,
the current political and communal tensions have again highlighted
the crucial role of the Orange Order in maintaining peace
and stability throughout the Province.
Orangemen have never shirked their duty at times of crisis.
We have always stood proudly for Ulster and now - arguably
more than ever before - Ulster needs our active support, our
practical commonsense and our influence for good. We cannot,
and must not let our Province down.
With Lodges everywhere preparing to commemorate the Twelfth,
the Grand Lodge has called on all Orangemen to show dignified
restraint, and to guard against others hijacking their parades
as a cover for violence and civil disorder.
Since the July parades celebrate our cultural traditions,
and loyalty to the Crown, it follows that we cannot allow
anyone to use them as an excuse to attack the forces of the
Crown.
The Grand Lodge of Ireland urges Orangemen to stay away from
likely flashpoints rather than allowing the Institution to
be tainted by the actions of a tiny and unrepresentative number
of troublemakers who do not share our Christian principles
of peace and neighbourliness.
We deplore the fact that in some areas violence and the threat
of violence by an equally small and unrepresentative number
of republicans has denied our members their basic human rights
to parade along routes they have used for hundreds of years.
We are determined to restore those rights, and our best hope
for justice lies, not with confrontation, but through the
use of constitutional political and legal processes.
The Orange Order welcomes the support of all people who share
the Institution's aims of a just and tolerant society based
on mutual respect provided they are willing to demonstrate
that support peacefully.
At this moment in Ulster's history, the Orange Order calls
for calm and discipline from all Unionists. Our traditional
parades must be allowed to proceed peacefully.
Meanwhile, let me as Grand Master make it absolutely clear.
We condemn violence in all forms. We do not want or need the
support of anyone who believes violence will further our aims.
Any Orangeman who thinks otherwise risks everything we stand
for and has no place in the Order.
We are not militant republicans - we cannot justify violence
as a means of achieving our right, just and democratic goals.
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