Orange lodge says sorry over ‘parade’ in City Hall by Scottish loyalist band
AN Orange Order lodge has apologised to Belfast City Council after a loyalist band paraded inside City Hall last weekend.
Govan Protestant Boys from Scotland had been accused of playing sectarian tunes and breaching City Hall rules.
The flute band was attending the George Telford Memorial Loyal Orange Lodge dinner last Saturday evening.
The band was widely criticised after footage emerged on social media of members parading through the corridors and reception of the building.
Yesterday the BBC reported that George Telford Memorial LOL 118, based at Clifton Street Orange Hall in north Belfast, has since written to the council to apologise.
It said it had not asked the band to play in the corridors of City Hall but admitted it had to take responsibility for its actions.
The lodge said it was disappointed the incident overshadowed its centenary celebrations.
Insisting they did not ask the band to parade around the building, they acknowledged it was their dinner and they needed to take responsibility for what happened. The letter said the event had been planned for upwards of two years.
“We are therefore extremely disappointed that this important event in the lodge’s history has been overshadowed as a result of a misunderstanding on the night concerning the band we had engaged as part of the night’s entertainment and, in particular, where and when they could play,” the letter read.
“We wish to make it clear that the decision to allow the band to play outside of the function room was made without the approval or prior knowledge of any lodge officer, County Grand Lodge officer or elected representative present at the function.
“The lodge, as the organiser of the function, however, accepts responsibility for this unfortunate incident and apologises for any offence it may have caused.”
The letter added that the lodge had launched its own internal investigation and is undertaking a review into how it plans future events.
Speaking last week, Sinn Fein councillor Ciaran Beattie claimed that the actions of the flute band had sent “out the wrong message of the changing Belfast and City Hall which is supposed to be a shared space and open to all”.
However, loyalist blogger Jamie Bryson said that he was proud to see the band “proudly marching through City Hall expressing our culture”.
A Belfast City Council spokesperson confirmed yesterday that it was still investigating last week’s incident.