The Twelfth of July
Today in Rossnowlagh, Co Donegal, hundreds of Orangemen are gathering for their annual parade to celebrate a battle that happened 321 years ago, as they do every year on this Saturday, even though it is a few days before the Twelfth of July.
If it is like most years, after the march they will have picnics with tea and ham sandwiches. Quite a few will have a pint or a “wee Bushmills”. Some in bowler hats and Orange collarettes will stroll along the beach or have a paddle.
Tomorrow or the next day, tens of thousands of them will dust off their bowler hats and take their collarettes from their boxes for the actual Twelfth of July parades. Thousands more bandsmen and women will take out their fifes and drums. The Sash will have been well rehearsed.
This will be after the bonfires the previous night in the loyalist and unionist areas of Northern Ireland. Some supporters will drink to excess, though the truly intemperate boozing will be more of an urban phenomenon. Most people will be in good shape for the big day.
In the fields where the parades conclude, resolutions will be read praising God, honouring Queen Elizabeth II and thanking British soldiers for their service in Afghanistan, Libya and other parts of the world. It is a truly fantastic spectacle.
On the night of the Twelfth, there will be a small parade past the shops in Ardoyne, north Belfast. There will almost certainly be a riot, which could go on for days, and may feature young hooligans, dissidents, police in riot gear, plastic bullets and water cannons. The hope is that everybody gets through the week alive.
