Orangeism: The Making of a Tradition. By Kevin Haddick-Flynn. Wolfhound Press. 400pp. £30
My only previous encounter with Kevin Haddick-Flynn's work was his account of the Soloheadbeg ambush at the start of the War of Independence when, in the words of a cleric at the time, two RIC men were killed "as if they were dogs." Haddick-Flynn's sentimental account missed Dan Breen's admission that the murders were calculated. Sadly, this text is also plagued by the cliches and omissions so typical of the republican school of Irish history. Yes, James Craig did boast that Northern Ireland was "a Protestant Parliament and a Protestant State" - not "a Protestant Parliament for a Protestant people" as Haddick-Flynn misquotes - but it was in direct response to de Valera's pretension that Ireland was "a Catholic nation." Another common myth that Haddick-Flynn trots out is that there was "wholesale discrimination" in housing under Stormont. A glance at the figures shows that at any given income-level, Catholics fared distinctly better than Protestants. As Professor Richard Rose concluded, there was "no evidence of systematic discrimination against Catholics. The greatest bias appears to favour Catholics in areas controlled by Catholic councillors." The so-called gerrymander of seats in Derry is cited as further proof of the Order's "invisible hand." The Cameron Report of 1969 did present a prima facie case of "blatant manipulation": 8,700 Protestants and 14,400 Catholics elected 12 Unionist councillors and eight Nationalist councillors. However, the Nationalist Party only ever put forward eight candidates and the Catholic vote was split between the Nationalists and the NILP, while Protestants were almost uniformly Unionist.
That 138 of the 149 Unionist MPs who sat at Stormont between 1921 and 1968 were Orangemen is a revelation. Many, though, like Terence O'Neill, would have joined out of a desire to advance their electoral prospects rather than any great fealty to the precepts of the Lodge. Nowadays, only a bare majority of Unionists at Stormont are Orange.
The author is also far too quick to blame the Order alone for scuppering Lord Londonderry's progressive vision of secular, integrated education. The 1923 Education Act flowed from the recommendations of the Lynn Committee, which the Catholic Hierarchy was invited to take places on, but refused. Haddick-Flynn omits this and concentrates on the subsequent, and ultimately successful, Orange campaign for "simple Bible teaching.'
Other niggles include the unsupported and dubious assertion that the RUC was ever "predominantly Orange" and the claim that the Institution's representation on the Ulster Unionist Council meant that it was "impossible" for Catholics to join. Sir Denis Henry, a Catholic, served as a Unionist MP and Northern Ireland's first Attorney-General. Haddick-Flynn's conclusion that the "man whose Orange fervour was doubted walked in fear lest his livelihood was taken away" is similarly hyperbolic.
The author's account of Orangeism in recent years also leaves much to be desired. He relates how some Orange bigots raised five fingers when walking past Sean Graham's bookmakers on the Ormeau Road where five Catholics had been murdered by the UDA. He fails to mention either that this atrocity was in response to the IRA murder of eight Protestants at Teebane, or that the offending Orangemen were expelled by the Order for their actions.
He further claims that Catholics on the Garvaghy Road were prevented from attending Mass in 1997. Rather, the security operation - needless if it were not for the threat of republicans attacking the Orangemen - required mass-goers to use the side entrance of the Church. The residents, mindful of the propaganda value of an open-air Mass, refused.
Interesting points do arise. Few will be aware that the worldwide head of the Order is Togolese, or that nearly 60 were killed in a single anti-Orange riot in New York in 1871. Fewer still know that the Association of Loyal Orangewomen was founded in direct response to the Catholic Church's "Ne Temere" decree, or that the anti-Treatyites occupied the Order's headquarters in Parnell Square during their retreat from the Four Courts.
While explaining very well the Williamite wars and the founding of the Order, Haddick-Flynn fails to appreciate the Order's relevance today as the major cultural, religious and political expression of a people acutely aware of their declining status in Northern Ireland and their minority status in Ireland. His characterisation of Orange marches in 1999 as meaning "We are the masters here and you are Fenian scum" is as inadequate as much of the rest of this flawed tome.
Steven King is an Ulster Unionist Party special adviser. His book, Charles J. Haughey and the Northern Ireland Question 1957-92, will be published next year