Their solution to the Ardoyne standoff, was to forget most of their parade but have a mini-bus of people drive to the Catholic area and march on it before their dead line. So much for traditional rights etc, when it is either march for an hour among your own, or 10 minutes in a Catholic area, then its off to pee down on the papes.

They truly are an evil org. Just imagine what it must have been like, when they ran the show up there and people wonder why one man, one vote came to the North only in the 70′s.

St Patrick’ Day is not an exclusively nationalist festival. It brings together both unionist and nationalist.

You forget that the outrage only goes one way for many commentators in this state.

@Paul Carr That’s because unlike the “celebration” of the Twelfh of July huge efforts were made especially in recent years to work towards ensuring St. Patrick’s Day (Festival) was as inclusive as possible, thus attracting both tourists and the local population.

The Fascist Orange Order is even more vile, if possible in Scotland.

Is there anyway we could contact the N Irl/UK government i.e. e-mail and complain about the burning of the tri- colour, i mean this sh*t is not on.
1998 the good Friday agreement was signed and these bloody hillbillies still get away with murder, this liberal government need to stop tip-toeing around these so called ethnic groups primarily the Ulster Scots and impose some law and order. Christ burning another nation’s flag is not on!

100% agreed. Our Government and the British Government sit idly by, year after year. Yet, if this was happening in the South and we were burning Union Jacks, and things that made fun of murder victims, there would be uproar (and rightly so).
Alan Shatters Londonderry remark about Derry, sums up the Governments thinking on this issue. The only people who call Derry, ‘Londonderry’ are Orange Bigots and their supporters (and by association, Alan Shatter is a supporter). Not one Irish person on the whole Island calls Derry by any other name.
I hope he is proud to see what his cohorts are doing.
And still the Orange Order refuse to engage with resident associations. Every year those resident associations are becoming more militant as a direct result of the fear and intimidation they are suffering at the hands of the Orange Order and its supporters.
They are being attacked in their homes, and yet when they finally have enough of it, and take up arms to defend themselves, Politicians are out damning them, yet these same Politicians sit back and say nothing while the residents are attacked.

Very well said Howard

The Orange Order have many many influential members, indeed you had no chance of being a Unionist politician unless you were a member. Civil servant jobs, senior police roles, all were commonly reserved for Orange men. It ensured the “Protestant state for a Protestant people” mentality stayed in power, add in on top of that, the Order can bring 150,000 people on to the streets. It has always been willing to bring Loyalist guns in to the mix.

The Order have always threatened the Nuclear option, that if they did not get to stay in control, if civil rights for catholics went too far, that they would unleash their membership and plunge the North in to a massive bloodbath. It is however too big a weapon, like America then can destroy the world in 30 minutes but get beaten out of Somalia.

It is important that the fascists in the Orange Order are faced down, their hatred and racism belongs in the past, and it has laid waste to this country for a very long time.

As long as tribalism remains as the accpeted norm in the six counties by both the British and Irish governments the orangeamans bigotry and hatred will continue to be fed to future generations.

Here are a few more pics if you’re stomach can take them

Note that this bonfire is beside a playground http://twitpic.com/a6je3t

http://twitpic.com/a6iysc Papal flag, tricolour and polish born SDLP member

This one is particularly vile as it contains the names of the 14 innocent people who were murdered on Bloody Sunday http://t.co/vdSrcknJ

That last photo is barbaric. Where does all this hate come from after 15 years of peace?

We should tell them “No something came up, ye can’t March in Dublin. Ye can March in Dundalk though, sure it’s closer anyway!”

That’s some generalization for an organization with what 80k members, I’m certain they are all paramilitaries is it any wonder there isn’t a united Ireland.

The Pope is due to visit the North next year to apologise for the years of clerical abuse, I guess we’ll see then if both sides can make historic gestures.

I moved to Belfast from the south 4 years ago. Most people here think that the 12th is a disgrace and something to be ashamed, but those upholding the tradition are holding onto it firmly but I don’t imagine that it’ll be too long before there will be restrictions on the bonfires, they’re built next to houses that are lived in and actually cause the windows to melt, children freely climb the unstable structures 4 times the sizes of houses, every year there is trouble of a sectarian nature.

This is a tradition that should have finished in the 80′s, it still occurs because there are many PSNI officers who, once they finish their shift are taking off their uniform and going to join the celebrations. Its a hangover from the RUC that most of the officers are protestant but more and more Catholics are joining and this is a great thing for his country.

Well said Clare. Though at the 20th Anniversary commemoration of the Bookies in February a member drove past the gathering and gave a 5 finger salute, completely disrespecting the lives of those 3 men and 2 boys. They say it was 4 men and a boy but lets face it, Peter Magee was only 18 at the time of us death and had only turned 18 2 months previously. In my eyes that still made him a boy. They didn’t seem to want to report that incident on the news.

I live in Kerry and can’t believe that this is allowed to go on. At the St. Patricks Day parade in Belfast Irish people aren’t allowed to carry Tri-colours. It appears to me that it’s one rule for them and another for everyone else. I can’t see why they have to march in places they aren’t wanted. Why not just march their own areas…oh yeah I forgot they like to let the Irish know that they are the ruling force and no matter what the British and Irish Government say, Nationalists up there are second class citizens. Pure Bigotry!!!

It is not long ago that the 12th was associated with an orgy of killing, as Orange Men got drunk and went out to find a Catholic, any Catholic, to kill. The Order has a long association of using mob violence and paramilitary violence to maintain its supremacist view.

Have you ever seen in of the august bonfires they are both as bad as the other

If the people in Ardoyne can hear the shouts of Die Taigs, Die from the Orange Order’s home ground then, it might just work. Maybe the could have the message sent by text to all catholics, they get to share their traditional 12th greeting to the neighbours, their raison d’etre and Catholic areas don’t have to be locked down by thousands of police as the sashes go by.

I think I just might have won the Nobel Peace Prize.

@fagans congratulations, well deserved

that’s so disrespectful, boils my blood

At the fleg shap?

I wish our government had a spine and condemned the treatment of Irish people in the North!!! Condemn the tri-colour too but lets not forget the attacks against people, which in my view are slightly more important

Mary. The Govt. here destroyed all the files in to the bombings in Dublin and Monaghan. The Govt’s message to the people in the North for most of the last 90 years, was we couldn’t care less if they kill ye all.

I know Fagan’s I was born in Belfast. I’m well aware of how the Irish Government view the Irish people in the north. They’ll come out and condemn the things that the IRA did but God forbid they should come out and ask for apologies for what the LVF, UVF, UFF, UDA, the Red Hand Defenders or the RUC did. Makes me sick that quite a few people here forget their history. I’m all for moving on from the past but it was our History that made us.

they don’t deserve your pity, what about the Catholics or indeed the protestants that don’t participate having to put up with the marches, flag burning, barbaric songs?

I imagine the Guardian would offer you a job.

I don’t think Neanderthals lived during the dark ages Joan.

I didn’t think they lived in 2012, yet here we are.

Davy they are Irish as they were born here, they just wont accept it.

Im English from London, i think the burning of the tricolour is a disgrace, how do they expect to move forward. Ireland is Irish Fullstop. We know that, London has more in common with Dublin than Belfast. Unfortunately old fashioned bigoted people will always be stubborn and always hold you back.

I presume they would cite the 2nd commandment and ergo it couldn’t be considered a Christian symbol

“First of all I thought flag burning was illegal.”

Not in the UK.

By saying that the ornage order need to comment in order to balance suggests that we are not being factual. Everything that I have said is based on fact and can be backed up with photos. How can the OO defend actions such as burning statues of our lady or burning effigies of the Free Derry corner with the names of the Bloody Sunday victims on it. They wont comment of course because they cant defend the indefensible.

Ciaran its all facts & I agree with that view however members of the OO have also been victims of such attacks they will tell you & I for one do not want a one sided debate. I am confident enough in my beliefs & the fact that hearing from the other side may even strenghten my beliefs.

Its not about it being one-sided. Of course there have been terrible attacks on the OO, particularly on property. I dont condone it and have no problem in saying so but no one from my community does those things in the name of “culture”. The rules of the OO are so patently anti-catholic and outdated that in any other civilised country they would be banned for encitement of hatred. I would like to hear from them, I support the calls from my community to sit down with us to find agreement. It was done in Derry and elsewhere why not in Belfast & Portadown? Supremacy days are over, time they realised that. Days of croppies lie down are well and truly over.

The orange order don’t organize any bonfires the majority of them are done by kids, also I doubt many orange men real the Journel.ie as they don’t have any interest in the south

Ciaran if the other side are not involved its one sided. Also a lot of these unionists had to talk to the IRA so I think we could maybe take a bit of the same medicine. Whats to fear & I say that also to any OO member commenting here. Im not afraid of it.

Suits and umbrellas? Terrifying

And judging by some of the comments, down here as well.

As the North normalizes, the likes of the Orange Order become more extreme, as they are forced to live as equals with their catholic Irish neighbours. Everything in the Order’s culture is based on how Catholics are Satan’s servants and the Irish are racially inferior, so seeing theirCatholic neighbours get uppity with jobs and voting, drives the Order crazy. They aren’t unfortunately a small minority, there are 100k Orange Men, out of 800k Unionists. They are openly extremist, racist and sectarian, its like joining the Klan, their sister org. Your still going to be hate filled to do it.

Yup, great day here along the Cavan/Monaghan border, i’m sure it’s just as nice in the rest of Ulster. :P

Joking aside, the flag and effigy burning is the actions of an uncouth, uncivilised yob, can you imagine the hue and cry if every easter we erected these pyres and burned Union flags or that bastardization of the true Ulster flag….the loyalists would have a field day, they’d look down their noses and that uncivilised mono-cultural papist state to the south still carrying the baggage of history, it would delight them.

Have fun with that.

No need to go as low as they are.

Sorry, Mark, I disagree.

The UK does not consider the burning of flags to be a crime. Moves were made to criminalise it in 2006 but they were stopped by the Lib Dems, Nick Clegg probably threatened to cry or something.

If someone wants to burn the flag of my country, let them. It’s just a symbol. They end up wasting their money and time and look like a bit of an imbecile.

If, on the other hand, someone wants to burn my country then we have an issue.

Perhaps we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, Mark.

U should even joke about it.

I do, Fagan’s. Out best weapon against intimidation and bigotry is humour and vague feeling of smugness.

I’ll add that when winter fuel allowance time comes round I’ll expect no complaints from that sector of the community.

“Our”, rather than “Out”.

“a vague” rather than “vague”.

Vague enough to excuse these typos hopefully.

Nice face peter.

What would you call the last few decades up there other than radical and violent? Flag burning incites hatred and provokes people. The British government won’t allow Muslim clerics Freedom of speech on their streets because it’s for the same reason. It should take a similar stance to the burning of the Tricolour. The Irish government should also take a stand and condemn it. Accepting these kind of actions only perpetuates hatred and bigotry

Would you like it if 5000 fascists and extreme bigots paraded up and down your street, threatening you, spitting in your garden because you are Catholics. Seeing shooting gestures being made at your house and knowing that there is fup all you can do about it, because just behind the loyalist paramilitary with the sash, is your DUP cllr and a member of the police laughing. Without thousands of their supporters singing songs about killing Irish people, and with KAT on their faces. (Kill All Taigs).That is the reality of the Orange Order, call them what they are Nazi’s.

The raw hatred and supremacy that defines every aspect of Orange thinking is something that is thankfully quiet rare in Europe these days.