Orange Order to launch capital ‘charm offensive’
THE ORANGE Order has announced it is to launch a charm offensive to challenge its perception in the media and “showcase” the organisation to the public.
The ultra-Unionist “Protestant Christian fraternity” has declared 2018 a “year of opportunity” and intends to capitalise on an international gathering in Edinburgh in the summer.
It has also said there will be a major indoor event in the autumn “to showcase the institution to the membership and to the general public”.
The PR plan is described in the latest issue of the The Torch, which calls itself the Official Journal of the Loyal Orange Institution of Scotland.
It says the Orange Order has entered the New Year “with a spring in its step” as it will have the honour of hosting “the 46th triennial conference of the Imperial Orange Council”.
The council will convene in the first week of July in a hotel next to the Scottish Parliament.
The Torch says “exotic visitors” will come from countries including Ghana, Togo, the USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
In a separate spring event, the Order will discuss its coverage in the media, which is often connected to sectarianism and violence and intimidation linked to Orange walks.
Recent controversies include photos from a fancy dress party at an Orange Order hall showing people dressed as Nazis, holocaust victims and Catholic clergy.
Nil by Mouth, Scotland’s leading anti-sectarian charity, gave the Order’s initiative a cautious welcome, but said its image had been ingrained over decades, and could not be turned around by a few slick press releases or a PR makeover.
The last time the Orange Order attempted a high-profile PR event it took place in George Square in 2015.
The Grand Orange Lodge of Scotland declined to comment.