The Orange Order should not equivocate in its condemnation of violence, Lagan Valley MP Mr Jeffrey Donaldson has said.
Speaking at the Twelfth demonstrations in Ballinderry and Dromore, Co Down, Mr Donald son said it was essential that the Orange Order did not allow paramilitaries to hijack legitimate protests, flaunting their aggression and engaging in displays of naked intimidation.
"The Orange Order stands for higher ideals than this and must at every opportunity condemn the illegal activities of the paramilitaries and of all those who engage in acts of violence. "There can be no room for equivocation lest the Orange Order's reputation is dishonoured by some kind of moral ambivalence," he said.
Mr Donaldson blamed the Drumcree parades crisis on the "intolerance displayed by republicans" and the threat of violence posed against the parade.
He said that if the IRA maintained its refusal to decommission weapons there was an obligation on all unionists to withdraw from the Assembly and Executive.
"Republicans cannot sit in power, ruling over education and health and safety by day, and then exert a rule of terror on the streets by night. They must choose between democracy and terrorism," he said.
Also speaking at Dromore, Mr John McCrea, the assistant grand master of the Orange Order, said that although the order remained loyal to the British queen, this loyalty did not extend to her government.
"During the past 30 months we have received pledges, assurances and promises from Prime Minister Tony Blair, only to find that he cannot deliver," he said.
