A right to march

Perhaps when DUP leader Arlene Foster visits Fife later this month to take part in an Orange Order march she might reflect on a number of points (your report, 2 June).

When she looks at the condition of Cowdenbeath High Street, she might think that Northern Ireland isn’t treated so badly after all. She has been much more successful in getting resources from the Westminster government than the local politicians seem to have been for regeneration of what was once a significant thoroughfare. Those same politicians might reflect on why it is possible to get such large numbers to demonstrate for the Orange Order but so difficult to get people to march in support of their own causes.

Controversy over Orange marches in Fife has been an almost annual ritual for as long as I can remember. There are two points that the critics of Mrs Foster’s participation should take into account.

The first is the simple democratic principle that we have to accept the right of people with whom we fundamentally disagree to march peacefully through the streets. The second is that it is much more important to listen to what she actually has to say rather than hectoring her about her diary priorities.

She is only partly responsible for the impasse that has led to the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly. She showed some magnanimity when she attended the funeral service for the late deputy First Minister Martin Mcguinness. Her remarks may well mitigate the more extreme forms of Orange Order rhetoric.

For good or ill, she plays a key role in modern British politics and all democrats should treat her visit to the east of Scotland with the dignity it deserves.

BOB TAYLOR Shiel Court, Glenrothes