TRIMBLE STANDS BY FUNERAL ATTENDANCE
Trimble stands by funeral attendance
By Niall Blaney
MOVES to discipline First Minister David Trimble and senior Ulster Unionist colleague Denis Rogan over attendance at a Catholic funeral for some of the Omagh dead are rooted in anti-agreement orangeism, it was claimed yesterday.
Both men are facing censure from their private lodges after attending the funerals of James Barker (12), Oran Doherty (8) and Sean McLaughlin (11) at St Mary's church in Buncrana, Co Donegal.
Mr Rogan, the UUP chairman, and Mr Trimble yesterday insisted their presence had been "Christian".
A report in yesterday's Irish Times suggested that both men faced disciplinary action after breaking Orange Order rules.
The institution believes that members "should strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or otherwise) any act or ceremony of Popish worship".
Mr Trimble is a member of a private lodge in Bangor, while Mr Rogan belongs to a Belfast lodge. However there is also agitation in the Co Antrim Grand Lodge over their attendance.
Mr Trimble said he was unaware of any moves outside what he had read in the newspaper report.
He said: "I considered at the time that 1 was behaving in the charitable spirit that the qualifications of an orangeman enjoined on people, doing what was the Christian thing in those circumstances, bearing in mind the event and the particular position which I hold.
"1 find that many people, many orangemen, consider that that was the right thing to do in that situation."
In a statement Mr Rogan said: "Oran Doherty, Sean McLaughlin and James Barker were the innocent victims of one of the most brutal terrorist atrocities ever seen in Northern Ireland. What happened to them could have happened to any of our children."
George Patton executive officer of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said he was unaware of any proceedings.
But he added: "If any member feels that another member has broken one of our laws then they charge them in their own private lodge. I don't know if someone has felt that both members have done something or not, but we are not aware of it."
A complaint would lead to a disciplinary hearing in the lodge with a simple guilty or not guilty verdict, he said. "If the verdict is not guilty we never hear of it, but if it is guilty then the sentence is passed up the line for information."
Orangeman Clifford Smyth, who is currently suspended from his Belfast lodge, said it was not clear if the move was representative of grass-roots orangeism.
He said: "The qualifications of the Orangemen are actually rooted in the late eighteenth century and are actually based on formulations of the Anglican Church.
"Nothing in this would have been any surprise to Presbyterians or Anglicans two centuries ago, but time has moved on, we are in an ecumenical age, but Orangemen wouldn't be in sympathy with it, so these tensions arise."
He said the Grand Lodge officers would be deeply embarrassed by the issue arising at all because they "would not know how to handle it".
By Niall Blaney
MOVES to discipline First Minister David Trimble and senior Ulster Unionist colleague Denis Rogan over attendance at a Catholic funeral for some of the Omagh dead are rooted in anti-agreement orangeism, it was claimed yesterday.
Both men are facing censure from their private lodges after attending the funerals of James Barker (12), Oran Doherty (8) and Sean McLaughlin (11) at St Mary's church in Buncrana, Co Donegal.
Mr Rogan, the UUP chairman, and Mr Trimble yesterday insisted their presence had been "Christian".
A report in yesterday's Irish Times suggested that both men faced disciplinary action after breaking Orange Order rules.
The institution believes that members "should strenuously oppose the fatal errors and doctrines of the Church of Rome and scrupulously avoid countenancing (by his presence or otherwise) any act or ceremony of Popish worship".
Mr Trimble is a member of a private lodge in Bangor, while Mr Rogan belongs to a Belfast lodge. However there is also agitation in the Co Antrim Grand Lodge over their attendance.
Mr Trimble said he was unaware of any moves outside what he had read in the newspaper report.
He said: "I considered at the time that 1 was behaving in the charitable spirit that the qualifications of an orangeman enjoined on people, doing what was the Christian thing in those circumstances, bearing in mind the event and the particular position which I hold.
"1 find that many people, many orangemen, consider that that was the right thing to do in that situation."
In a statement Mr Rogan said: "Oran Doherty, Sean McLaughlin and James Barker were the innocent victims of one of the most brutal terrorist atrocities ever seen in Northern Ireland. What happened to them could have happened to any of our children."
George Patton executive officer of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said he was unaware of any proceedings.
But he added: "If any member feels that another member has broken one of our laws then they charge them in their own private lodge. I don't know if someone has felt that both members have done something or not, but we are not aware of it."
A complaint would lead to a disciplinary hearing in the lodge with a simple guilty or not guilty verdict, he said. "If the verdict is not guilty we never hear of it, but if it is guilty then the sentence is passed up the line for information."
Orangeman Clifford Smyth, who is currently suspended from his Belfast lodge, said it was not clear if the move was representative of grass-roots orangeism.
He said: "The qualifications of the Orangemen are actually rooted in the late eighteenth century and are actually based on formulations of the Anglican Church.
"Nothing in this would have been any surprise to Presbyterians or Anglicans two centuries ago, but time has moved on, we are in an ecumenical age, but Orangemen wouldn't be in sympathy with it, so these tensions arise."
He said the Grand Lodge officers would be deeply embarrassed by the issue arising at all because they "would not know how to handle it".
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0253
Published Date: 18-Dec-98
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