Had some conversations recently about the changing face of Orangeism and the 12th celebrations. Lots of articles have been published in the last few days, mostly in two camps: a) things are changing and it's great, or b) so much for the supposed change, the Lisburn Road was still swimming in alcopops.
The third position is Rev Stephen Dickinson's, which has been explained here, here and here. At great risk of sounding like a fence sitter, I have sympathy with all three views - yes some good moves are being made, but sadly there is still an alcohol culture at some stretches of some parades (as is the case generally in society), and be very wary about dumbing down, losing authenticity, and losing the core values. (I didn't see none of that fancy Orangefest branding in Portavogie!).
Maybe I should have a caption competition for the pic below, photographed a while back outside the Orange Hall in Newtownabbey up near Mossley Mill...
...I wonder if Heather got much trade from the Lodge members?
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
The Twelfth Part One: It's not what it used to be...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Rather a pale shadow of what it used to be. Still, with men like Stephen Dickinson it can be restored.
Pleasant and warm site here Mark.
Keep up the good work.
Great coverage. I had the pleasure of getting a dose of Rev. Dickinson on both the 11th and the 12th.
I think he has an important message for the OO and its members that needs addressed.
Post a Comment