10 October 2006
St. Andrew’s Letter
A representative contingent from all the District lodges in the County Grand Orange Lodge of Belfast, accompanied by members of the band fraternity handed over a letter to all the Unionist parties involved in the forthcoming St. Andrew’s talks. The letter wished the delegates every blessing in their endeavours, but insisted in the strongest possible terms that nothing short of the removal of the Parades Commission would be acceptable for real progress to be achieved.
The letter stated; ‘…, we support what many Unionist politicians have already committed too, there can be no political progress until the issue of the Parades Commission has been addressed satisfactorily’. It went on to point out that Belfast County were committed to finding a shared future and the realities that would entail, adding; ‘However the Parades Commission mitigates against the reality of establishing a shared future where toleration and accommodation replace intolerance and intransigence and recourse to a statutory body is minimised.’
The County Master Dawson Bailie, stated, ‘The removal of the Parades Commission is an issue were there is agreement across the entire Unionist family. We cannot face another year of their incompetence and stupidity. We are simply asking our elected representatives to use their mandate to rid us of this hindrance to the future’.
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