Minister’s attendance at Orange Order parade a sign of mutual respect

FIANNA Fáil has largely written Bertie Ahern out of its history. The manner of his departure and subsequent report of the Mahon Tribunal soured relations with shiny new, post-economic crash Fianna Fáil. However, the party should pay greater attention to his contribution to the peace process.

Not only was Ahern a key leader in the Good Friday Agreement, but he also led the way in pursuing a policy of forging a harmonious relationship with the Unionist community in Northern Ireland. It culminated in Ahern welcoming the late Ian Paisley on his first official visit to the Republic since his appointment as Northern Ireland first minister to the Battle of the Boyne site in 2007.

The then DUP leader wanted to visit the site where the armies of William of Orange and Catholic King James II clashed in 1690. The visit was rich with symbolism. Ahern acknowledged the Boyne site was an important place for the Protestant, unionist and loyalist people of Ireland, but he said the site’s importance extended beyond its significance for one tradition.

To this day, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has continued in this vein with his recent trip to Belfast, where he became the first Taoiseach to visit the Orange Order’s headquarters. After receiving a warm welcome, the Taoiseach said he hoped to forge better relations with the institution, and move on from past.

“When I come north I see myself as a neighbour not as an invader, as the head of government of another jurisdiction.”

Following on from the Taoiseach’s visit, junior minister Brendan Griffin became the first minister to officially attend the Belfast Orange Order 12th of July parade.

Again, it was viewed by many as a welcome sign of an appetite for respect to be shown for all traditions.

NOW the immature wing of Fianna Fáil has intervened to criticise the minister’s attendance as “clueless”.

Fianna Fáil TD Darragh O’Brien pointed to the burning of the Tricolour and LGBT discrimination as some of the elements in the loyalist celebrations which he said cannot be ignored and which he has never heard the Orange Order condemn.

Thankfully, Micheál Martin had the common sense to distance himself from his TD’s juvenile remarks.

“Brendan Griffin, like any other individual in the country, is perfectly entitled to attend Orange Order parades,” he said.

With his catch-all stigmatising and generalisations, what O’Brien fails to recognise is the bonfire builders who decorate their pyres in Belfast with sectarian graffiti do not represent the unionist community.

No more so than the thugs who threw petrol bombs at police and intimidated Protestant communities in Derry are representative of the nationalist communities.

The actions of those with bonfires and petrol bombs deserve to be condemned.

Just as DUP leader Arlene Foster’s attendance at the Ulster football final was a sign of a willingness to reach out to those of another tradition, so too is the attendance of a Government minister at an Orange Order parade.

We expect those in positions of responsibility and leadership to show a greater level of maturity. Fianna Fáil needs to show they are leaders in this way of thinking, like Bertie Ahern – not part of the sneering rabble.