Friday 4 October 2013

"SYSTEM NOT PERSONNEL REQUIRES CHANGE" - ORDER

Responding to the announcement by Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, that there will be a new Parades Commission appointment process, an Orange Order spokesman said:


“The Orange Institution, along with the other Loyal Orders and marching bands fraternity, will shed no tears at the replacement of the current Parades Commission.
Its end of term report will make for abysmal reading, validating its lamentable record of failure as an unaccountable body ill-disposed towards the traditional Protestant parading sector.
We trust this appointment process will only be memorable in that it is the last by a serving Secretary of State. 
Rather than new personnel operating the same failed system, what is urgently required is the replacement of the Public Processions (Northern Ireland) Act 1998 with a better regulatory mechanism. 
By engaging positively in the Haass talks, the Orange Institution remains committed to finding a replacement to the Parades Commission. 
Parading policy and legislation must be based on civil and religious liberties for all and special privileges for none.”