https://www.thejournal.ie/heather-humphreys-orange-order-6816487-Sep2025/
PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL HEATHER Humphreys has said she attended Orange Order parades as a child but stopped going when the Troubles broke out.
The Fine Gael candidate, who is a Presbyterian, said she would now vote for Irish unity and that she was an example to unionists in Northern Ireland of Irish “tolerance and inclusivity”.
However, she has come under pressure over when her husband stopped attending Orange Order gatherings as per reporting in today’s Irish Mail on Sunday.
The Orange Order is a British unionist and conservative organisation that was founded in the late 1700s.
Its membership is made up of local branches, some of which have come to attention most recently for their objection to a GAA camp for children in Co Down and for the annual 12 July parades that have seen the erection of effigies of public figures and migrants.
Humphreys launched her campaign in her home county of Monaghan yesterday, close to the border.
In a speech to party members, she talked about how her grandfather had signed the Ulster Covenant in 1912 – an oath of resistance signed by hundreds of thousands of unionists against home rule on the island of Ireland.
Speaking to the media, she referenced her Protestant heritage as she said she wanted to “reach out” to communities in Northern Ireland.
She said she attended Orange Order parades with her parents, calling it a “family day out” and a “cultural day” for attendees.
But Humphreys added: “When the Troubles started, people were concerned and I didn’t go then after that.”
She believes “things have moved on a lot”, outlining that she has attended St Patrick’s Day parades in Cootehill, Co Cavan, “when Orange bands from Northern Ireland took part in those parades”.
“I think that is a sign of where we are now,” Humphreys said.
If elected, she wants to continue to build on the work of former Irish president Mary McAleese who she said did “wonderful work in reaching out to communities” in the North.
“I feel I am well placed to do that, to extend the hand of friendship and to break down those barriers and to have that conversation,” Humphreys said.
Humphreys added that the Good Friday Agreement was the basis for any discussion about Irish unity.
“I certainly want to see a united Ireland, I definitely do, I have committed to that, but only through working with people and bringing them together,” she said.
“I think when people from the unionist background look at me, for example, I can honestly say to them this country has given me everything I have, it has made me what I am.”
"I am an example of a tolerant, inclusive Ireland that can accommodate different traditions and different viewpoints."
She added to reporters: “Of course I’ll vote for a united Ireland.”
Asked if she would use the office of president to advocate for Irish unity, she said that she wants to “convince people that this is a safe place” when it comes to identity and culture for different communities.
Humphreys cautioned that “when you scratch back the surface, there are deep divisions” in Northern communities which have to be addressed.
Humphreys would not put a timeline on when she believed a unity referendum would take place.
“We don’t want to end up in a situation like we had with a referendum in the UK on Brexit and 51% said no and 49% said yes. That is not going to solve problems,” Humphreys said.
Political reaction
A surprise defender of Humphreys was Sinn Féin’s senior TD Eoin Ó Broin, who said there was a need to “accept” that the Orange Order is an “important cultural institution” for Unionists and many Protestants.
“Heather is an Ulster Protestant – I would have been surprised if she hadn’t attended marches,” Ó Broin told Anton Savage on Newstalk this morning.
O Broin said there are “historic and more contemporaneous controversies” involving the Orange Order which should not be discounted.
However, he added that the members of the group needed to feature in discussions “if we’re serious about having a conversation” about Irish reunification.
by SpottedAlpaca
10 comments
It’s not a big deal, but her secretiveness is making it one.
Given how involved spouses are in the Áras it’s arguably pertinent to know if her husband supports Irish self-determination, since the Orange Order does not.
How many members of the OO are there, how many Protestants in the Country? Why does everyone mention the OO but not other groups e.g.Union members, why the dog whistles to an out of date pseudo religious paramilitary organization. I’ve lived all my life in Unionist areas, am from a Unionist family and it boils my piss that this organization gets so much back rubbing. The vast majority of the people in any of the lodges are ballbags varying from out and out psychos to those who are nice ( but still very sectarian and racist but nice about it). How about we arrest them every time they allow a paramilitary flag to be shown at one of their events. You know, treat them like the rest of society. Drunk and pissing on the streets lifted. Piling rubbish up for months ( bonfire) arrested for dumping and the mess cleared away. Shouting abuse as you walk past a crowd, use whatever law we would all get done with. A religious organization does not march with drunken scum in its ranks, it shouldn’t be singing hateful songs, it shouldn’t be trying to break the law at every opportunity, it shouldn’t be allowing terrorist organizations to walk with it. It’s not normal, let’s call it out for what it is , N.Irelands KKK.
So she’s a Presbyterian, with links to the OO, who wants a United Ireland. There you are now.
She made a fool of herself in the way she danced around that OO question that is curiously barely touched upon in this article.
**’is your husband a member of the Orange Order?’**
“*you’d have to ask him*”.
Wah!?
If I’d asked her that and got that answer I’d have had to follow up and ask if they were estranged or something.
I think this is maybe a case of damned no matter what answer she gave though but still somehow she gave the worst answer.
Heather Humphries should be the poster child for the “New Ireland”, and that’s probably one of the reasons FG selected her, yet the way she is being treated by the Irish press makes me and other unionists believe that this “New Ireland” is a crock of BS.
When asked if her husband was in the orange order she said she didn’t know…🤣🤣 True story
She was the minister for the Gaeltacht and refused to engage with Irish language groups.
How’s she supposed to know about her husband? Aren’t Orange Order members famously reticent about expressing their views?
Ernest Blythe was a Protestant who once joined the OO and wanted a United Ireland. Not unheard of.
Doubt most unionists will buy what she’s selling, though.
If Humphreys genuinely cared about Irish Nationalism she wouldn’t be in Fine Gael. Fine Gael were/are the party of choice for former Unionists in the south because they are virulently anti-Irish Republican, and markedly more Anglophile than the other major parties.
Between her family’s (recent) Orange Order engagements, and Heather’s intransigence towards Irish language groups when she was the minister of the Gaeltacht, I think it’s fairly clear that Irish nationalism isn’t particularly high on her list of priorities. That’s grand, but she should at least be upfront about it.
Comments are closed.