Once again violence has flared as the so called ‘marching season’ gets under way. These protestant marches are all part of a ‘marching tradition’ we are told. Maybe so. This does not make it right.
On a recent visit to Ulster I was struck by the sense of hope and engagement at every level and from every faith. I talked to Catholics and Protestants and found that among the ordinary people they had hope of a decent future for the first time in generations, built on the principle of accept and forgive. The Ulster emerging is not quite what either side had planned, but it is a worthy place nonetheless, in which its people take increasing pride.
Marching with drums beating and colours flying is one of the most stirring spectacles in which any grouping can engage and none can witness it without a profound sense of pride on the one hand or hate on the other. The Protestant so called tradition of marching through Catholic areas to rub the noses of the locals into their subjugation by the protestant ascendancy, following the defeat of James II at the Battle of the Boyne three hundred and twenty two years ago, must end. It is out of date, out of order, out of place, out of fashion and out of step with the whole peace process which has finally delivered a future to a people obsessed with their past.
Politicians in London must draw to the attention of their colleagues in Ulster that in the United Kingdom as a whole such provocative and inflammatory spectacles are forbidden and for the Protestants of Ulster no exception can be made. Parade yes, but not in a fashion or along a route chosen to insult your Catholic neighbours and fellow countrymen.