Exhibit 8: Interview with Mervyn Gibson: Former Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order and an Ex-British Security Forces Officer (2014)
“The Orange Order has always been the organisation which stood up for the unionist, British and Protestant people of Northern Ireland. Around the world some people would view us as a bigoted organisation, as a backward organisation.”
– Mervyn Gibson, Fromer Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order
This is an interview from 2014 with Former Grand Chaplain of the Orange Order, Mervyn Gibson, who provides a unique perspective on post-GFA community relations, given his experience as a former Special Branch officer and member of the RUC.1 Gibson voluntarily left the Security Forces towards the end of the Troubles to pursue preaching in the Presbyterian faith and has been a lifelong member of the Orange Order.
First, Gibson addresses how the Orange Order is often misunderstood and misrepresented by Nationalists and a paramilitary front. Moreover, Gibson speaks about how the organization actually led himself and many other young Protestants away from the paramilitary route and instead helped them become involved in positive community engagement. Next, he addresses comments that the Orange Order is a bigoted and backward organization. In Gibson’s opinion, passion for their communities, faith, and political views gets misconstrued as being bigoted; he views the Orange Order as a peaceful bastion for Unionist beliefs and the Protestant religion against the rising power of the Nationalist community in Northern Ireland. However, Nationalists would certainly disagree with Gibson that Orange Order parades and Twelfth festivities are intended to intimidate and inflame Nationalists across Northern Ireland as the frequently lead to violence and hate speech.2
The other central aspect of the interview highlights the tensions between the Unionist and Nationalists communities about the Orange Order parades and their routes through Catholic neighborhoods, especially in Drumcree.3 Gibson is adamant that the Orange Order is under a cultural attack from the Nationalist community and that they are attempting to silence their right to display their ideals and faith proudly.
On the other hand, Nationalists perceive the Orange Walks as a display of dominance and an intimidation tactic against their community. They argue that these parades, using sectarian symbols and music, remind them of historical divisions and the marginalization of Nationalist communities. In addition, the sight of these parades in Catholic neighborhoods evokes a feeling of fear.4
The Nationalists’ fear is not unreasonable, as violent incidents have occurred during these parades, with clashes breaking out in Drumcree in the late 1990s.5 Yet, in the interview, Gibson claims the Orange Order must continue to fight/protest to be able to march in Drumcree despite the Parades Commission’s—the body designated for approving parades in Northern Ireland—decision to prohibit the marching of the Orange Order down Garvaghy Road.
Footnotes
- Belfast Telegraph. 2014. “Interview with Orange Order’s Mervyn Gibson: ‘If the resolution comes it has to come in a way to satisfy all.'” Belfast Telegraph. 21 September https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/interview-with-orange-orders-mervyn-gibson-if-the-resolution-comes-it-has-to-come-in-a-way-to-satisfy-all/30603762.html
- Bryan, Dominic. Orange Parades: The Politics of Ritual, Tradition and Control. Pluto Press, 2000. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt18fs351. Accessed 1 June 2023.
- Ibid.
- Kaufmann. (2007). The Orange Order : a contemporary Northern Irish history. Oxford University Press.
- Ibid.
