ABOUT 200 members of the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland are due to meet in Belfast tomorrow to elect a new grand master to succeed the Rev Martin Smyth, who is retiring after 24 years, Gerry Moriarty reports.
Mr Smyth, the UUP MP for South Belfast, has made it clear he will not be backing any particular candidate. The assistant grand master, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said he will not be seeking the position. Mrs Donaldson is a senior member of the UUP with ambitions to take over the Lagan Valley seat, being vacated by former UUP leader Sir James Molyneaux. In recent years there have been moves to distance the Orange Order from the UUP and Mr Donaldson's candidacy would have been viewed as undermining that strategy.
Drumcree has triggered militancy within elements of the Orange Order, most notably with the formation of the Spirit of Drumcree group which campaigned unsuccessfully to have Mr Smyth ousted. Mr Smyth adverted to that yesterday when he said the new grand master should be a person committed to the principles of the order and not be prepared to be "shoved around by a small group".
While there are about 90,000, members in the Orange Order, it is left to the 200 or so members of the grand lodge to decide who will be the new grand master.
There may be up to six contenders for the position tomorrow, with Belfast Orangeman Mr Robert Saulters one of the favourites to succeed Mr Smyth. Mr Saulters was involved in some of the ill fated negotiations with Lower Ormeau Road residents over controversial parades during the summer.
He is a delegate to the Ulster Unionist Council and is viewed as a man who could sensibly loosen the Orange Order's ties with the UUP.