Mr Joel Patton, head of the dissident Spirit of Drumcree group, might not like the reference, but his complaint that Mr Robert Saulters was unconstitutionally reelected as head of the Orange Order was a bit Irish.
More than 100 of Mr Patton's hardline supporters had taken control of the House of Orange HQ on the Dublin Road in Belfast last Tuesday evening and staged a sit-in. Yet when the order's hierarchy not unreasonably decided to hold its half-yearly Grand Lodge meeting at an alternative venue, Mr Patton complained it was acting contrary to standing orders.
If Mr Saulters, a rather complex, amiable Belfast accountant, had any fondness for a relaxed, non-confrontational life he would have gratefully accepted Mr Patton's point. But he is made of sterner stuff than his mild manner would suggest. There is a lot at stake: centrally, the future of the organisation itself, how it is run, and by whom. What happened yesterday also reflects the battle for the hearts and minds of unionists between the Ulster Unionist Party and the DUP-UK Unionist axis.
When Mr Patton and his Spirit of Drumcree group started occupying the House of Orange from last Tuesday evening they were taking their most dramatic step in a long campaign of protest and disruption and, some Orangemen have complained, intimidation.
In the past 10 days efforts by the Orange leadership to discipline Mr Patton and other members of Spirit of Drumcree have failed.
Where the group appears to have a reasonable argument is in its complaint about democracy. It was the Grand Lodge of the order, comprising fewer than 200 members, who elected the Grand Master, and not the general body of something around 40,000 members. Mr Patton wants a system approximating to "one man, one vote".
This is a dispute between the hawks and doves of the Orange Order, between those who will contemplate no compromise or dialogue and who will go to and beyond the wire on issues such as contentious parades and those who, while equally committed to Orange traditions and beliefs, are prepared to countenance some movement to avoid civil strife. Mr Patton and his supporters are vehemently opposed to the order's decision to cancel a number of contentious parades, notably along the Lower Ormeau in Belfast in July, after the RUC forced through the Drumcree parade. Just as the DUP and the UK Unionist Party are a minority within unionism, the Spirit of Drumcree group is a minority within the Orange Order, but a minority that can cause trouble.
These minorities, if not met with committed resistance from the more moderate people in both bodies, can cause great damage to the Orange Order and to the peace process. Which is why what is happening at the House of Orange is so very important.