Breathing Space

Breathing Space

There has been much talk about Glasgow City Council’s decision to call a halt to four planned Loyalist Parades in the city this weekend and one Republican march. The decision came in the wake of violence at two Republican marches in the previous week which were met by loyalist counter-protestors leading to ugly scenes on the city’s streets. The council stated that they needed some ‘breathing space’ to assess the situation, talk to the Police and try to find a long term solution to these contentious displays.

A letter to a Glasgow newspaper expressed an opinion which many in the city today would probably agree with…

‘’With the opinions of the Orangemen the public have nothing to do so long as they keep those opinions to themselves: but what right do the peaceful inhabitants of Glasgow have to be frightened out of their propriety by the wanders through the streets of a set of enthusiasts who are never against having recourse to violence.’

It may surprise you to know that despite the above comment sounding as if it was uttered yesterday; it was in fact taken from a letter to the Glasgow Courier and Chronicle in 1821. Such was the violence of those early Orange Parades the city fathers banned them for years. This occurred again later in the nineteenth century as Glasgow’s large Catholic population reacted to visceral displays of triumphalism marching through their neighbourhoods in a predictable manner.

Elaine McFarland dates the Orange Order’s first attempt at a Twelfth of July parade in Scotland to that troubled day in 1821…

‘Only three lodges took part on this first occasion, parading through the principal streets of Glasgow. Watched by ‘an immense concourse of spectators’ they were roughly handled and some had their sashes torn off. . . . In 1822 the pattern was repeated. Now seven lodges including those from Paisley and Pollokshaws assembled to march, contrary to the magistrate’s proscription, to Fraser’s Hall in King Street. The company met with little opposition during the march since it was unexpected. Once inside the hall, however, they were besieged by a number of ‘zealous Irish catholics, most ready to give battle’. Police and even military intervention was required and 127 Orangemen were taken into their safekeeping, returning home ignominiously ‘with sashes in their pockets’. A parade was again threatened for the following year but was cancelled and no public Orange processions seem to have taken place in Glasgow till the 1840s.’

It’s clear that the ‘zealous Irish Catholics’ of 1821 were not willing to play the passive victim but it’s equally interesting that in 2019 as in 1821 it is the threat of disorder on the streets which makes politicians sit up and pay attention to what is going on at these parades. In that sense those who attempted to disrupt two Republican parades in Glasgow this past month have unintentionally caused the cancellation of Orange Parades in the city this weekend.

The Order reacted angrily to the banning of their parades and as is their way continued to frame their response in a way which suggests they are the victims of political and religious intolerance in all of this. The language they use conforms to the terminology often heard in the north of Ireland and a ‘narrow minded band of anti-unionist nationalist councillors’ are blamed for the ban. (Glasgow has an SNP administration) The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland,  stated on their website…

‘It is a sad day for democracy when a narrow minded band of anti-unionist nationalist councillors, aided and abetted by Police Scotland, abuse the law and introduce illegal measures that curtail a citizen’s right of peaceful assembly. For over 200 years, Orange Lodges in Scotland have existed in many parts of Scotland, standing up for the rights of the working classes.  Our parades are the way we exercise our right of assembly, and our membership takes part in our parades with great respect and decorum.’

The idea that the Orange Order is a champion of the working classes and demonstrates ‘respect and decorum’ is laughable to many Scottish Catholics who hear tunes such as the ‘Famine Song’ and ‘Billy Boys’ played at Parades and see banners bearing images such as that of Bill Campbell the head of the Scottish UVF during the troubles. Campbell was jailed for bombing Irish Bars in Glasgow and in one darkly farcical episode his group blew up an Apprentice Boys Hall in Bridgeton when explosives they’d hidden in an oven went off when someone put on the oven to heat up pies. The actions of men like Campbell saw his group go to prison for a combined 500 years. His nephew was convicted in the 1990s for the shocking murder of schoolboy Mark Scott as he walked home from a Celtic match.

The Order has in fairness tried hard to disassociate itself from the rougher elements and there are many strands of opinion within it ranging from evangelical Christians who have no time for those who break the law through to those who use it as a vehicle for their prejudices. They would argue that their organisation had nothing to do with the disorder seen in Glasgow in the past two weeks but they are part of the context in which it all takes place. Perception is all and the manifestation of Orangeism most people come into contact with is the Parades which pass through our towns and cities each year and they are often unedifying spectacles. For those Scots with no time for such medieval triumphalism there is a sense that they are out of step with modernity and a leftover from times long gone. For many Scottish Catholics they are viewed as triumphalist and intended to remind them who ‘the people’ are.

The recent assault on a Priest at St Alphonsus church in Glasgow’s east end by hangers on at an Orange Parade demonstrated the atmosphere which pervades some of these parades. Despite all the protestations of the Orange Order about their innocence in this incident, the fact remains that their parades are often the focal point for less bright individuals who enact anti-Catholic prejudice in songs, words and actions. This is a responsibility they cannot shrug off.

Most people I’ve spoken to this past week are of the opinion that Orange and Republican Parades are divisive, whether they set out to be or not, and shouldn’t be allowed to disrupt their lives or the life of the city. Republicans will of course be angered by any description of them as ‘sectarian’ but as with Orangeism perception is all and most people simply view the spectacle of two groups playing tunes about the conflict in Ireland as an anachronism in modern Scotland. It did not go unnoticed that Glasgow now has more Orange Parades each year than Derry and Belfast combined. As Ireland stumbles towards a peaceful future do we really need camp followers in Scotland stoking the flames of old divisions?

Glasgow city council and the Scottish Police have a difficult task on their hands to reconcile the freedom of citizens to assemble and march with the possibility of disorder at such marches and all the attendant disruption they bring. One suggestion was to allow parades to take place only if those organising them meet the policing costs. With around 400 police officers, horses and a helicopter involved in policing the last Republican parade, that would all but end such parades. It is surely not acceptable that working class movements, however distasteful we find some of them, are priced out of demonstrating?  

I think a middle way will be found and that contentious parades will be reduced in number and routed away from areas of sensitivity such as Catholic churches. One suggestion was that parades should be allowed but should be taking place at times and in places where disruption is minimalised. The right to demonstrate is important in any society which calls itself free but so too is the right of people to go about their business without fear and alarm at the behaviour of some attending these demonstrations.

In a democracy the price of freedom is accepting that we may be exposed to views which we disapprove of. The old adage often ascribed to Voltaire pertains… ‘I hate what you say but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.’ Getting the balance between freedom to assemble and the rights of citizens not to be inconvenienced or worse remains a difficult task. Most Scots have no time for political extremism or religious zealotry and are quite frankly embarrassed by what they often see on our streets. They would echo the words of  a Glasgow newspaper which said almost 200 years ago….

What right do the peaceful inhabitants of Glasgow have to be frightened out of their propriety by the wanders through the streets of a set of enthusiasts who are never against having recourse to violence?’