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Monday, 17 April, 2000, 12:42 GMT 13:42 UK
Unionists debate Orange Order ties
![]() David Trimble wants to curb the Orange influence
A leading anti-Good Friday Agreement Ulster Unionist has spoken out against proposals to curb the power of the Orange Order within the party.
The reforms put forward by party leader David Trimble also included a proposal to cut the voting power of the mainly anti-Agreement Young Unionists. "It would not be in the best interests of the UUP to cut its links with the Orange Order," said Mr Donaldson. He urged the party to debate the issue but to reach a consensus rather than engage in an "unseemly row" which could end up in the courts. Reacting to questions about the Orange Order's perception as an anti-Catholic organaisation, the Lagan Valley MP said the UUP did not expect to win converts from nationalism simply because it changed its structures.
He added it would be wrong to assume all Orange Order delegates opposed the Good Friday Agreement. Mr Trimble has denied the proposal was a result of his narrower than expected victory in a leadership contest with the Reverend Martin Smyth last month. He told the paper: "This is not something dreamed up in response to last month's Balmoral result. "These discussions have been ongoing for a number of months."
Leaders, including Mr Trimble, have often been members of both organisations. But the decision to reform the party, which would mirror Labour's attempts to disentangle itself from the trade union movement, is likely to anger some anti-Agreement elements within the party. Mr Trimble told the paper he intended to put the reform proposals to the UUP's rules revision committee in June - ahead of the Orange Order's 12 July celebrations. "If we are to get the proposals through for next year's AGM, they will have to be put to the UUC in the autumn," he said.
David Brewster said Mr Trimble's announcement "sounded like the first shot" in a squabble between pro and anti-Agreement factions. "This move is a bit like a doctor faced with a patient who is haemorrhaging and who decides to rip out the backbone. It is foolish in the extreme," he said. "But then you have to look at David Trimble's own political track record. "When he was in Vanguard (a political party opposed to power-sharing in 1974, of which Mr Trimble was deputy leader), he was prepared to split it and send it into electoral oblivion and that is what he did. "I'm afraid he is attempting to do the same again with the Ulster Unionists with this attempt to reduce the influence of those who oppose him in the party. "The UUP has always regarded as a broad church but I'm afraid he may be trying to turn it into a Trimble cult." |
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