Sunday 28 June 2009

Orange Order withering away

Today’s Sunday Times carries a story to gladden the heart of any nationalist, Catholic, or reasonable person. The Orange Order, it seems, is dwindling away.

In 1948 the number of Orangemen was 76,447; this rose to its highest number in 1968 – 93,447 members, but this fell to 64,160 within a year and has declined ever since. In 1990 it was claimed that there were 100,000 members in Ireland, but there were actually only 47,084.

By 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, the number of members was 35,758.

And yet they organise around 3,000 marches a year – almost one for every ten members! This must require every Orangeman attending multiple parades all through the summer. If nothing else, its good exercise, but surely hard to sustain in the modern era with many other calls on free time.

If the decline continues (as it surely must – the age of many marching Orangemen is visibly above average) then within a few years the Orange Order will be an irrelevant hang-over from the past, and wider society will probably tolerate its eccentricities in the same way as it tolerates the Salvation Army or vintage car enthusiasts. Then it can claim its rightful place in Ireland – the history book.

19 comments:

hoboroad said...

Horseman

At the rate your going you will have more followers than the Orange Order!You should apply for some EU peace money after all you contribute more to the political discourse than they do.

Anonymous said...

And good riddance to them.

You are correct about Horsemans following, hoboroad, just look at the counter. Its moving at a pace.

MPG .....

hoboroad said...

I wonder if the terminal decline of the Orange Order has anything to do with an increase with mixed marriages?

hoboroad said...

Maybe to make up the numbers the local Orangemen should invite the Orangemen of Togo to the 12th of july one year.Although how some of their statues of the Virgin Mary would go down with the locals remains to be seen!

Picador said...

I must say this site is a real discovery. It gives voice to what many of us have long been thinking.

Calvinist Ulster is dying the death of a thousand cuts. Will Éire be revealed in her full glory? Let's salivate as she performs the dance of the seven veils. Who knows, we might get to go forth and multiply!

Anonymous said...

But how many sympathizers does the organization have? It could still be far more then the number of actual members.

Horseman said...

It is true, Anonymous, that the hangers-on, associated bands, and general sympathisers are often the worst part of the orange marches, and we have no idea how their numbers are changing (apart from the wider Protestant stagnation and decline).

But if there are fewer Orange Order members then the 'official' size and number of marches has to decline. Eventually some Lodges will have to shut or amalgamate, leading to fewer marches, and maybe more areas that are effectively orange-free.

hoboroad said...

It automatically excludes 43 percent of the North of Ireland population from the start.If you marry a catholic you are excluded if you attend a catholic service you are excluded unless your name is David Trimble!I wonder if there is an increase in membership of the Freemasons more secretive but far less excluding.

hoboroad said...

And 51 percent of people in the ROI do not want a papal visit according to a opinion poll after the Ryan Report.The times are a changing!Maybe we are all becoming more secular both north and south.

hoboroad said...

I see the Orange Order is going fundraising in the United States of America.I know the Order is big in Canada but it also has lodges in the Bronx and Manhatten.

hoboroad said...

The hangers on the blue bag brigades teenagers getting drunk in public.It seems the public drinking laws do not apply here on the 12th of July!

pagasp said...

excellent blog man, quality, from a doire man. this blog is simply the sound of inevitability. erin go bragh ma chara

pagasp said...

"The relentless march of history is going to squash it under its heel. Sit back and enjoy the show!" WHAT A SHOW MAN, the best comedy around ha ha ha its the sheer laughter of it all thats going to be the best craic, aahhhhhhh laughter pains. !!!!!!!!!

hoboroad said...

Pagasp

welcome aboard the Union is on borrowed time!

hoboroad said...

The Orangemen of Bangor got £550 for there bonfire celebrations of the local council they wanted £700 that's the reason Bangor is now overrun with flags!

Anonymous said...

Bangor must be a delight at this time of year. I wonder what the local businesses think of the situation, I am sure it makes it a world class holiday destination, attracting holidaymakers from all over the world.

When will these people wake and smell the roses?

When will Unionism see these bigots for what they are?

MPG .....

hoboroad said...

According to Andy Pollak there are only 2,500 Orangemen on the books in Belfast he was told this by a Senior Orangeman.

hoboroad said...

I found that on Slugger O'Toole

Paddy Canuck said...

I have to disagree with hoboroad -- the OO's not big in Canada these days. But ohhhh, it sure used to be. They pretty much ran the biggest province, Ontario, effectively appointing its premier and the mayor of Toronto (which had HUGE numbers in the OO circa 1920 and got the nickname "the Belfast of America" back when America still meant what Columbus discovered and not just the United States).

It really is amazing how fast it can turn around, though. From having a lock on power here to being virtually non-existent (I don't know anyone in it myself and their July 12 parade lasts 10 minutes and takes up only one side of Queen Street) took about 10 years, from the end of WWII to the mid-50s. It meant nothing to young Protestant kids, as increasingly, people were just people. This could provide some hope to the people of Northern Ireland, particularly in "the Belfast of Europe". :)