Moves are afoot inside the Orange Order to discipline Northern Ireland's First Minister-designate, Mr David Trimble, and another senior unionist for attending a funeral Mass last August for victims of the Omagh bomb, The Irish Times has learned.
Mr Trimble and the chairman of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr Dennis Rogan, were among several Orangemen who attended the funeral Mass at St Mary's Church, Buncrana, Co Donegal, on August 19th for three boys who died in the Omagh blast the previous Saturday. The President, Mrs McAleese, also attended.
It is a condition of membership of the Orange Order that "you should not countenance by your presence or otherwise any act or ceremony of Popish worship".
While attendance at Catholic funerals by Orangemen is reported to be a fairly common occurrence, especially in Border and other rural areas, it is rare for action to be taken against them inside the order. It is understood that other rules requiring members to attend regularly at their own church and to refrain from "profane language" are enforced even more rarely, if at all.
The complex procedures of the order require that members be charged in the first instance in their own local, or "private", lodge. Mr Trimble is a member of a lodge in Bangor, Co Down, and Mr Rogan of a Belfast lodge.
It is understood the main impetus for disciplinary action is coming from hardline members of the County Grand Lodge in Belfast, which has reportedly discussed the matter at several meetings. They are focusing on Mr Rogan: they have no formal jurisdiction over Mr Trimble, but local action against the party leader would probably follow a move against the UUP chairman, sources said. Close observers said Mr Rogan was "easier meat".
A spokesman for the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said that at this stage he was unaware of any moves against the two men. A spokesman for the Belfast County Grand Lodge said: "David Trimble is not a matter for Belfast County. Dennis Rogan would be, and that's a matter for the private lodge. We would have nothing to say at this point in time."
Neither Mr Trimble nor Mr Rogan was available for comment. There has been discussion in the UUP, particularly in recent years, about the desirability of breaking the party's formal institutional link with the Orange Order.