'United we stand divided we fall'

The Scripture readings were from Ephesians 2 1-10, by Bro Jeffrey Stirling, District Secretary, Coleraine. Hymns during the service were ‘O God of Bethel, by whose hand’ and ’To God be the glory!’

The Sermon was by Rev Alistair Smyth, Grand Chaplain Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland, who took the saying ‘Post Tenebris, Lux’, meaning ‘after the darkness, the Light’ as his theme, he charged the Brethren with the following challenge: “Have you personally come out of the darkness and slavery of sin into the light and liberty of the Gospel of God?”

In his address as chairman, Wor Bro George Duddy, District County Grand Master for County Londonderry Grand Orange Lodge, said there has been a lot of talk regarding unionist unity within the Orange institution.

“The results of the recent general election where all unionist party leaders failed to win a seat should provide an impetus for the parties to work and co-operate more closely together. No-one should be nave enough to think unionist unity means that any party will be subsumed to form a single party,” he said.

“There is no doubt it will be a huge challenge, considering the history between the parties. An approach which should be considered, would be for the parties to reach a concensus or form a coalition in a bid to work more closely for the betterment of the whole unionist community, a community which is suffering considerably because of this lack of partnership, in local government, Stormont and Westminister. Apathy among the unionist electorate has come about because people are fed up with the constant fighting amongst our politicians. There has been a breakdown in trust between the unionist electorate and our politicians. They must work harder to regain the trust of the unionist electorate and this will help to rebuild their confidence in our politicians,” he said, adding: “ When Unionists openly fight with each other the only winners are those who seek to undermine and destroy what we in the unionist community have fought hard to hold on to, our rightful place within the United Kingdom. Let us not forget ‘United we stand divided we fall’.”

Mr Duddy said worldwide opinion was that Northern Ireland has moved on during the last 14 years, but dissident republican activity proved otherwise.

Condemning their behaviour as displaying “a complete lack of tolerance” for Orange culture and tradition, he added: “Twelve of the last 14 years during which Northern Ireland has been moving on, Lord Saville has been conducting his enquiry into the events surrounding Bloody Sunday. Calls for prosecutions of the soldiers involved on that day has shown that the Nationalist Community has certainly not moved on and it would seem they have no interest in doing so. Therefore are they genuinely interested in a shared future? It would seem not, or only when it suits them.

“Given the extremely hostile environment the army entered that Sunday afternoon, it is unfair and unjust to solely blame them for the events which unfolded. We must remember the sacrifice of so many of our armed services during the conflict within our province and we must continue to give them our unequivocal support.

“Costing 195 million this enquiry has only led to a hierarchy of victims which is morally wrong. For example, the families of the victims of the Claudy, Warrenpoint and Enniskillen bombings but to name a few of the many atrocities will not receive the same level of investigation. Surely these families also deserve a public enquiry into the deaths of their loved ones.”

Thanking everyone for contributing to the Institution’s appeal for Northern Ireland Kidney Research and their donations to the Lord Enniskillen Memorial Orange Orphan Society, he appealed for Orangemen and women study God’s word and pray on a daily basis and encourage and help others to find faith in Jesus Christ.