{"id":581326,"date":"2026-07-12T04:14:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T04:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/581326\/"},"modified":"2026-07-12T04:14:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T04:14:16","slug":"presidential-election-displayed-republics-intolerance-says-head-of-orange-order-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/581326\/","title":{"rendered":"Presidential election displayed Republic\u2019s \u2018intolerance,\u2019 says head of Orange Order \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The abuse directed last year at Fine Gael<\/a>\u2019s presidential candidate<\/a>, Heather Humphreys<\/a>, over links to the Orange Order<\/a> showed \u201cthe intolerance that still exists\u201d in the Republic of Ireland, the head of the organisation has charged.<\/p>\n

The sharply-worded criticisms from Harold Henning, the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Ireland, came during the traditional demonstration held by the order in Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Up to 6,000 members and supporters of the lodge, along with dozens of bands, attended the march which gathered at St John\u2019s Church of Ireland<\/a> outside Rossnowlagh village before parading to a field near the beach.<\/p>\n

Paying tribute to members of the lodge in the Republic, Henning said they \u201cwere a credit\u201d to the organisation: \u201cI\u2019m always mindful that the past decades have been a very difficult journey for you, and that journey has often been a lonely one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saying he could \u201cnot go without mentioning\u201d last year\u2019s presidential election, Henning said: \u201cWe all saw the intolerance that still exists in some quarters towards the Orange and Protestant identity here in the Republic of Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was shameful, brethren, what you had to go through at that time. I can assure the members of the institution here in the Republic of Ireland that you are vital and valued members of our Orange family and always will be. <\/p>\n

Praising the order\u2019s southern membership, who are parts of lodges in Dublin and Wicklow, Henning said: \u201cSome of you will do a round trip of 160 miles to attend your lodge meeting.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"SomeSome of the large crowd which gathered on Saturday in Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal for the annual Orange Order parade <\/p>\n

\u201cI know the brethren from Cork and Kerry will drive the length of this island from Mullingar, or from wherever they\u2019re coming, to attend their monthly lodge meeting,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some members of lodges in Northern Ireland<\/a> and who \u201care a couple of miles from our lodges and enter the door only occasionally\u201d should \u201cexamine ourselves\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018We were torn apart\u2019: Border Protestants still reeling from abuse of Heather HumphreysOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cBrethren, well done in the Republic of Ireland. You\u2019re a credit to the cause. Your perseverance and faithfulness to your Protestant religion, to your Orange institutions, to your community identity, is an inspiration to us all,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n

\"BandsmanBandsman Jeffrey Magee, from Raphoe, Co Donegal, at the Orange Order’s annual parade in Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal <\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of Orange Order members and their communities will march in Northern Ireland over coming days, he said: \u201cLike any family, we are not perfect. We have our challenges, we have our problems. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut if none of those can be overshadowed, the sense of belonging and loyalty that we have to our Orange cause and indeed to each other. As always, this parade provides a wonderful shop window for the very best of Orangeism,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Order\u2019s Donegal county grand master, David Mahon, said the Rossnowlagh demonstration had been supported by locals of all faiths for decades without difficulty.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a good relationship with everybody: we borrow land with them for the day. They give us fields for parking and different things. They have all been really helpful to us over the years, and still are,\u201d Mahon told The Irish Times.<\/p>\n

Crowds began to gather from midmorning, including many members of lodges in Northern Ireland, with friendships rekindled over coffees, burgers and ice creams in the summer heat.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may be separated by a political border, a political boundary, but we are one people united in our love of the reformed Protestant faith and our proud history, culture and Orange traditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The long-held Donegal Orange demonstration has been held since the 1960s on the Saturday before the 12th of July, which marks the victory of King William III at the Battle of the Boyne in 1691.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The abuse directed last year at Fine Gael\u2019s presidential candidate, Heather Humphreys, over links to the Orange Order…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":581327,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[9,10,107467,18,13,14,553,6,555,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,954,26870,59,7,8],"class_list":["post-581326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-church-of-ireland","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-fine-gael","tag-headlines","tag-heather-humphreys","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-northern-ireland","tag-orange-order","tag-presidential-election","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116905068538483275","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/581327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}