Orange Order/ABOD

The Orange Reality

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On the left, the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement establishes “The right to freedom from sectarian harassment” but, on the right, the Orange Reality involves “10 Catholics murdered as a result of Drumcree, 150 Catholic homes petrol bombed, 1350 Catholic families forced out, many dozens or pipe bombs, attacks on Catholic homes”. The left-hand panel shows the cover of the Agreement booklet that was sent to every household ahead of the vote, showing a family of four silhouetted against a sunset; the right-hand panel shows the same family, but the source of light is now burning houses.

Replaces Let’s Make It Work.

Dromara St, south Belfast

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Copyright © 2000 Paddy Duffy (no date given)
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Give Way

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An Orange Order marcher (with skeletal face, glowing eyes, and a ‘Give way’ sign) is about to step on a protestor from the lower Ormeau who holds a sign reading “Peace – Justice” and has just released a dove that is sitting on top of the road-sign on the corner.

The scene is the Ormeau Road at Farnham Street, and the mural is in Farnham Street at the Ormeau Road; the mural thus includes a depiction of itself: the edge of the mural (with blue sky and grey pavement) appears on the wall to the left of the pizza shop with painted shutters reading “What part of NO don’t you understand?” (An image of the actual shutters, from the squire93 collection, is included below.)

In the top left is a smaller piece painted on a board: the words “Will there ever be peace? No.” are super-imposed on a grave.

Both the murals and the graffiti on the shutters were perhaps done by Troy Garity (ig), who did the Trade Off! Stand Off! mural in Artana Street.

Farnham Street, south Belfast

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Copyright © 1998 Paddy Duffy
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(D00775)

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
T00315

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
T00300

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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