Twelfth marred by hatred

national | rights, freedoms and repression | news report Monday July 19, 2004 23:48 by rooster Dungannon

This year's Twelfth of July celebrations were the best I have seen for some time and having listened to various reports from different parts of Northern Ireland everyone seems to be of the same frame of mind.

Bandsmen and women along with Orangemen and women perfectly turned out marching along to lively tunes celebrating their culture and heritage sending out a very clear message that this is a day everyone can join in and enjoy.

Floats, ships, Scottish dancing, King William himself even put in an appearance, a truly wonderful occasion.

Young and old alike many wrapped in Ulster Flags and Union Flags having fun and friendship with each other free from sectarianism and hatred.

Unfortunately the day for many ended on a very different note.

Ardoyne can now go down in history as the most sectarian, hatred-filled area in the whole of Belfast.

They can say all they like about dialogue, the reality is if both sides talked from now to this time next year, the nationalist community of Ardoyne would still not want the Orangemen and women or their bands or their followers to parade down the Crumlin Road.

In a disgraceful attack, soldiers and police officers were pelted with whatever came to hand, the stench of hatred filling the air.

Hand-to-hand fighting, stones, bottles, bricks, trees, brush shafts and then we watched in horror as one individual lashed out with a hammer not caring about the injury he would inflict on his unfortunate victim.

The Sinn Fein/IRA leaders were playing to the media, with their calls for calm, when the reality is they are to blame for this unholy situation.

Incidents like this happened right across the province as Orangemen and bands returned from their day of celebration.

At Belfast, Lurgan, Londonderry and Antrim to name but a few, trains and buses carrying not only bands and Orangemen but also children and elderly were targeted with stones and paint bombs by nationalist youths.

Respect and tolerance are two words I use a lot and I believe these two words will play a vital role in the future of this province.

Unfortunately the people of Ardoyne have shown they are incapable of respecting or tolerating anything Protestant or British and have sent out a crystal clear message that hatred and sectarianism are the two words they are more familiar with.

This province will only move forward positively if we begin to respect and tolerate each other.

What exactly do these people have to fear from Orangemen? Are they so entrenched in their narrow minded, hatred filled line of thought that they are willing to sacrifice what could be the answer to all our prayers?