Sir, - The general secretary of the Orange Order, Mr George Patten, in welcoming the receptive attitude of the Dublin authorities to the forthcoming Orange parade in Dublin said: "It's the way it should be. As an organisation, we believe very much in freedom of assembly".
I very much doubt that he or his "brethren" would have expressed the same sentiments in the 1960s during the era of nationalist peace marches. Nor would they welcome the prospect of, for example, an organisation whose entire existence is predicated on antipathy (at the very least) to the Protestant faith, marching through the centre of Belfast today. They would refute such a comparison with the usual words such as "loyal", "Queen's highway", "non-triumphalist", "folk tradition" etc.
Because their marches were established in the past and as such are now traditional, no deviation on date, location or route will be tolerated for any reason, legal, moral, physical or otherwise. Dublin Corporation should beware. After one march this route could become habitual; after two, traditional; and thereafter a barrier to planning policy. - Yours, etc.,
John Morris, Dundee, Scotland.