Jonathan Campbell

All views expressed are my own.

[John McKeown @irelandresource]

“Faith, heritage, charity and family”, Moore?

Is that the complete history we’re going with?

Where were those principles at Drumcree in 1996, when thousands gathered after the Orange Order was told it could not march down the predominantly Catholic Garvaghy Road, while loyalist rioting and road blockades spread across the North?

Where was respect for your Catholic “neighbours and fellow citizens” when the pressure became so intense that the police eventually reversed their decision and put the parade through?

Where was “family” in 1997, when the nationalist community was effectively sealed into its own area and residents were prevented from reaching their Catholic church?

And let’s not airbrush another deeply uncomfortable part of the past, there have been Orange Order members who were also members of loyalist paramilitary organisations and involved in terrorism and sectarian violence. That doesn’t make every Orangeman responsible for their crimes, but it makes this attempt to present the institution’s history as nothing but “faith, heritage, charity and family” rather selective.

One incident out of hundreds of examples that was particularly disturbing that I specifically remember was Seán Graham’s bookmakers on the Lower Ormeau Road.

Five innocent Catholics were murdered there by the UDA in 1992. Months later, Orangemen parading past the scene held up five fingers towards nationalist protesters , widely understood as mocking the five people murdered there. The Orange Order subsequently expelled those involved, that’s only one from a long list.

Think about that while telling Catholics this organisation has always been about respecting its “neighbours and fellow citizens”.

And while we’re currently hearing outrage about republicans commemorating or celebrating their dead, perhaps the same standard should apply consistently.

Loyalist paramilitary flags, UVF/UDA emblems and banners commemorating loyalist paramilitaries have appeared around loyalist and Orange-related parading culture for decades . Some bands participating in Orange marches have openly displayed paramilitary symbolism, while prominent loyalist paramilitaries themselves have also been members of the Orange Order.

If glorifying people involved in republican terrorism is offensive and retraumatising to victims , and it absolutely can be, then glorifying loyalist terrorists or displaying the symbols of organisations responsible for murdering Catholics cannot suddenly become harmless “culture” or “heritage”.

Victims don’t become less dead depending on whether the gunman wore a balaclava with a tricolour or a Union flag behind him.

Nobody is claiming every Orangeman is a bad person. Many undoubtedly are decent neighbours, colleagues and family men.

But you don’t get to present four comforting words as though they erase the documented history of the institution, the conduct of some of its members or the paramilitary symbolism that has appeared alongside parts of its parading tradition.

If the Orange Order wants its neighbours to judge it on “faith, heritage, charity and family”, that’s perfectly reasonable.

Those neighbours are equally entitled to judge it on what it has actually done, what has happened in its name and what has sometimes been tolerated alongside it.

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@Lord_Sugar 1. 💯 misled
2. No
3. None. Only costs due to additional tariffs
4. No

[Russ 🔥 #jft97 🔥 @RussWalt81]

I 100% agree with this. #GarvaghyRoad #OrangeOrder #WindYerNeckInLads

[Sarah Creighton 🍂 @Saraita101]

I hated him before it was cool

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@JamieBrysonLLB 🤣

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@TheIrishKieran “Losing depth” makes it sound like Cotter was a decent player. He was inconsistent and in and out of the team. Getting £70k for a player signed for nothing in February, with only weeks left on his contract, is good business no matter what way you slice it…

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@TheIrishKieran The player and his contract are precisely the point. Derry signed him for nothing in February and have received £70k six months later, rather than losing him for nothing in November. Whether they adequately replace him is a separate issue.

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@AaJ1532082 Doesn’t look like O’Leary.

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@DeeCurran1 That’s the one. Midweek game. Derry getting beat 0-1. Mooney scored the winner right at the end of the game to make it 2-1. Absolute bullet!

[Ulidia Integrated College @ulidiacollege]

The excellent results reflect the hard work, determination and ambition of students, supported by dedicated staff and families throughout their Sixth Form journey.

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[Ulidia Integrated College @ulidiacollege]

ULIDIA INTEGRATED COLLEGE RECORDS HIGHEST EVER NUMBER OF A* RESULTS AT A LEVEL

Ulidia Integrated College is delighted to celebrate another year of outstanding A Level success, with the 2026 Year 14 cohort achieving the highest ever number of A* grades in the College's history...

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@offtheball Gareth is what DCFC need. I only wish he had the time and availability to help the club,

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@KateNicholl Context is important

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@Sakaextra2 Glenn Helder

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@Sakaextra2 Dallas

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@derrycityfc Embarrassing

[Jonathan Campbell @jcampbell1979]

@EPLBible 🤣🤣🤣