Orange Order/ABOD

Stand Off! Trade Off!

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In the summer of 1998, an Orange Order march was allowed to parade along Ormeau Road. Parades Commission chairman Alistair Graham (pictured in the mural beneath the evil-eyed OO member) “insisted that the Ormeau Road decision “was not a simple trade-off for our earlier decision on Drumcree”” (Irish Times).

Painted by Troy Garity, recreating an Ian Knox cartoon (Belfast Media). See also Give Way and A Postcard From The Edge.

Artana Street, south Belfast

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Copyright © 1998 Paddy Duffy
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A Postcard From The Edge

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“A postcard from the edge – Having a wonderful time! How was your summer?” Postcards From The Edge was a 1990 film starring Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by Carrie Fisher (WP). In this mural, the nationalist community is locked in the dark while the Orange Order parades loudly on the Ormeau Road in south Belfast.

Possibly by Troy Garity (ig), who did the Trade Off! Stand Off! mural in Artana Street and perhaps the pieces seen in Give Way.

Essex Street (later Essex Grove), south Belfast

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Copyright © 1998 Paddy Duffy
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Peace With Justice

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“Peace with justice”, “Fáılte go dtí Bóthar Garbh Achaıdh”, “Re-route sectarian marches”.

Three murals were painted by three Belfast artists (DD, Marty Lyons, Mo Chara Kelly) in 1997 in Hurson Park (renamed from Churchill Park), Portadown, along the route of the Orange Order parade to and from Drumcree, in order to support the local residents who were attempting to block the march through the CNR Garvaghy Road.

In 1996, an initial decision to block the parade was overturned at the last minute, and 1,200 Orangemen marched down Garvaghy Road. The 1997 march also went ahead and “sit-down” protesters were physically removed from the road. (Here is 90 minutes of news footage from 1997 (youtube). There are brief clips of the muralists at work, at 20m44s, 28m48s, 35m16s, 37m32s, 43m26s, 53m23s, and 58m44s. The images of protestors being removed begin at 1h02m)

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Copyright © 1997 Paddy Duffy
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Nothing Has Changed!

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“Old Labour 1969 – new Labour 1997 – nothing has changed!” Members of the Orange Order march with a large Union Flag on the backs of the RUC (with an Orange accent on their helmets) who are holding back the protesting local Catholic residents – particularly of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown and the Ormeau Road in Belfast.

The party in power (of the UK government) was the Labour party under Harold Wilson; in the general election of May 1st, 1997, Tony Blair’s Labour party regained power from the Conservatives. The mural hopes to pressure Labour into taking definitive action on the issue of parading – see (e.g.) Approved Parade Route, No Consent, No Parade and Not All Traditions Deserve Respect.

The mural in the distance to the left is the 1994 Fleadh mural.

Ardoyne Avenue/Ascaıll Ard Eoın, north Belfast

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Copyright © 1997 Paddy Duffy
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Approved Orange Route

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According to the “SS RUC” officer on the left, the “approved Orange route” is over the bodies of Catholic residents. The 1996 parade on the Ormeau Road went ahead over the public protests and legal action of local residents (Irish Times). The 1997 parade was called off (youtube).

“June 20” (on the right of the mural) is the date that Mo Mowlam is reported to have decided to force the Drumcree march down Garvaghy Road – see Beware! Mowlam became (Labour) Secretary for Northern Ireland in May, 1997. She is represented here in the guise of Lady Justice, washing her hands of the parades issue in a bowl held by the newly-formed Parades Commission.

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Copyright © 1997 Paddy Duffy
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Not All Traditions Deserve Respect

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This Falls Road board is a comment on the “traditional routes” taken in Garvaghy (Portadown) and Ormeau (south Belfast) and other small towns (Enniskillen, Dunloy, Castlederg, Ros[s]lea, Keady, and Bellaghy) by the Orange Order – which now pass through CNR areas.

The horse comes from Nuada And Indech At The Second Battle Of Moytura by Jim Fitzpatrick but its rider has been changed from a Celtic warrior to an Orangeman wearing the cloak and hood of the Ku Klux Klan. The landscape is from his The Tuatha Dé Assemble For Battle, with stones turned into skulls. For more on Jim Fitzpatrick’s art in murals, see the Visual History page.

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Copyright © 1996 Paddy Duffy
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Cemented With Love

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“In loving memory of Rev Robert Bradford.” Bradford was killed in 1981 (see To Bathe The Sharp Sword Of My Word In Heaven) and the mural dates back to (at least) 1983. It perhaps shows the Lindsay Street arch, which was first mounted in 1964. On either side of the arch are written “Honour all men, love the brethren” and “Fear God, honour the King”.

The King Billy mural survived until 1988 and was reproduced on the other side of Donegall Pass in 1989 – see the Peter Moloney Collection. King Billy is subtly coloured red-white-and-blue, while the dying Jacobite is in green-white-and-gold.

At the junction of Apsley Street and Howard Street South, at what is now the entrance to Reverend Robert Bradford Memorial Park.

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Copyright © 1988 Paddy Duffy
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