Call For Republic To Commemorate The 12th

The former Progressive Democrat leader Michael McDowell has called for the Twelfth of July to be made a national holiday in the Republic as well as in Northern Ireland.

Speaking at the MacGill Summer School in Donegal on Wednesday, Mr McDowell said genuine republicans had to consider introducing the holiday if they were serious about building an inclusive society.

Mr McDowell said: "Generally speaking there is an under appreciation of the Orange tradition in Ireland."

He also asked if the Good Friday Agreement was a sticking plaster over an open and infected wound or a stage on the path of genuine reconciliation.

The Orange Order event, celebrating Prince William of Orange's 1690 Battle of the Boyne victory over Catholic King James II, remains a contentious day in Northern Ireland with the latest event leading to an outbreak of violence and riots in the Nationalist area of Ardoyne in Belfast.

A female police officer was knocked unconscious during rioting after she was struck on the head with part of a concrete block dropped from the roof of a shop. A male officer was shot and has since been released from hospital during rioting in North Queen Street on the Twelfth morning while a total of 83 other officers were injured during the three nights of public disorder.

The DUP's Jeffrey Donaldson welcomed the sentiment behind the calls from the former PD leader. Mr Donaldson said some people on both sides of the Border "could not accept the traditions and culture of others", as seen in the Ardoyne riots this July, and that would have to be worked on.

He added that Mr McDowell's contribution was a positive one.

Mr McDowell has since told the BBC in Northern Ireland he was pointing out that in the Republic in particular, there is a failure to address the significance of the orange panel of the Irish tricolour, as in the part of Irishness, which is not Gaelic or Catholic.

(DW/BMcC)