3 replies to this topic

[Kilsally]

Senior Ulster Unionists avoid Orange disciplinary action
http://www.newslette...ction_1_3173867

Published on Friday 21 October 2011 08:49

ULSTER Unionists Tom Elliott and Danny Kennedy will not face disciplinary action from the Orange Order for attending the funeral Mass of a Roman Catholic police officer.

It is understood both senior politicians appeared before separate disciplinary panels in Lurgan last week.

The action was taken after a lodge in Sandy Row, Belfast claimed both men had “sold their principles for political expediency” by attending the funeral service of Constable Ronan Kerr in April.

Under Orange Order rules, brethren are forbidden from taking part in Catholic Mass.

Speaking to the BBC, UUP leader Mr Elliott said he hoped a line could now be drawn under the matter.

“The Orange Order have internal processes and procedures to go through and they have gone through those and, quite clearly, what I am hoping is that we can move on,” he said.

“That we can move on in a sense that what we did was right.”
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21 October 2011 Last updated at 06:31
Orangemen cleared by Order for attending Ronan Kerr funeral
http://www.bbc.co.uk...reland-15397487

Tom Elliot and Danny Kennedy shake hands with Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte at Ronan Kerr's funeral

An Orange Lodge's attempt to discipline two senior Ulster Unionists who attended the funeral mass for murdered police officer Ronan Kerr has failed.

Disciplinary committees found the cases against party leader Tom Elliott and Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy "not proven".

Orange Order members are forbidden from taking part in Catholic Mass.

A Sandy Row lodge made a formal complaint over the men attending the funeral.

At the time of the funeral, the Orange Order leadership indicated they understood the two members' decision to go to the Mass.

But the complaint claimed the senior Ulster Unionists had "sold their principles for political expediency".

The politicians appeared before separate disciplinary panels in Lurgan last week. Both have now been informed there will be no further disciplinary procedures.

Mr Elliott said he hopes the issue is now over.

"The Orange Order have internal processes and procedures to go through and they have gone through those and, quite clearly, what I am hoping is that we can move on," he said.

"That we can move on in a sense that what we did was right."

It is not clear if the lodge which made the complaint will appeal the decision.

A spokesman for the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland said it was an internal matter.

[Kilsally]

Right move on funeral

http://www.newslette...neral_1_3180830
Published on Wednesday 26 October 2011 08:52

IN these days of unbridled greed and selfishness, which is at variance with a Christian heritage and ethos, I was heartened by the news that two senior Ulster Unionist Party politicians will not face Orange Order punishment for attending the funeral of a Roman Catholic policeman killed by dissident republicans.

In an unprecedented act of Christian charity, Orange Order worthies have decided not to expel UUP leader Tom Elliott and regional development minister Danny Kennedy for attending the Catholic church funeral of PSNI Officer Ronan Kerr. What a magnanimous gesture.

Such religious intolerance can only be described as a pathetic and considered insult to Christianity worldwide by bigoted supremacists in the Orange Order.

It appears that Catholic emancipation, which was acceptable to Arthur Wellesley as Duke of Wellington in 1829, is still anathema to the Orange Order.

Tom Cooper,

Dublin

[Kilsally]

Order ‘must revamp its out-of-date rules’
http://www.newslette...rules_1_3178441
File photo dated 23/04/10 of UUP leader Tom Elliott (right) and deputy leader Danny Kennedy meeting Tyrone GAA Manager Mickey Harte (left) at the funeral of PSNI constable Ronan Kerr in Beragh, Co Tyrone. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Friday October 21, 2011. The two senior Ulster Unionist politicians will not face Orange Order punishment for attending the funeral of a Catholic policeman murdered by dissident republicans. See PA story ULSTER Orange. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Published on Sunday 23 October 2011 10:21

AN Ulster Unionist MLA, who attended the funeral mass of murdered Catholic PSNI officer Ronan Kerr, along with senior party members Tom Elliott and Danny Kennedy, has called on the Orange Order to “revamp and adapt its out-of-date rules” after the two men were cleared in disciplinary hearings.

Ross Hussey of West Tyrone – the late constable’s constituency – was speaking out after party leader Mr Elliott and DRD Minister Mr Kennedy were exonerated. A formal complaint had been lodged by St Simon’s LOL 821 from Sandy Row after the two men attended the constable’s Requiem Mass at Beragh, Co Tyrone, in April.

Mr Hussey said that, as an MLA, a former police reservist and “a proud Orangeman”, he had no qualms about attending the funeral mass of a professional policeman, and would do it again if the situation arose, “although I sincerely hope it doesn’t, in the context of a police officer or anyone else being murdered”.

Mr Hussey said the rule was there to prevent Orangemen taking part in the act of communion associated with Roman Catholic marriages and funerals, but that countless Orangemen attended the funerals and marriages of friends and relatives, “and no action is ever taken”.

He added: “I was there to pay respects to a young policeman who was murdered by republican dissidents while serving the community. Danny Kennedy, Tom Elliot and I did exactly what was expected of public representatives, and the people who object to that should examine their own souls. It was clearly a political move. It is regrettable that the Sandy Row Lodge did what they did.”

SDLP West Tyrone MLA Joe Byrne said: “The right decision has been made. It’s a positive development and will help community relations.”

Meanwhile, Mr Kennedy and Mr Elliott — who were cleared after separate hearings in Lurgan last week — said they were glad it was all over, having been told there would be no further disciplinary procedures.

Mr Kennedy said: “I am pleased at the outcome. There are issues that the Grand Lodge of Ireland should consider as a result of this. As a Past Master of Bessbrook LOL District 11 and a member of a staunch Orange family, I am still proud to be in the Order.

“The Order stands for civil and religious liberty, and I attended the funeral mass to honour a young policeman who had been murdered. I am not interested in criticising the Orange Order and I am encouraged by the support Tom Elliott and I have received.”

Mr Elliott said he hoped the issue was now over and added: “The Orange Order has internal processes and procedures to go through and they have gone through those. I am hoping we can move on. I believe that what we did was right.”

It is unclear whether there will be an appeal, with Sandy Row members not available for comment. Belfast Grand Master Tom Haire said he had not discussed the issue with any of the lodge members, while an official spokesman for the Grand Lodge of Ireland was not commenting on “an internal matter”.

However, an Orange historian told the News Letter that the rules were “ambiguous”. He claimed they stated that anyone “participating” in worship which was not of the Reformed Faith was open to expulsion.

He added: “Tom Elliott and Danny Kennedy were not, one assumes, actually participating in the mass, but simply attending.

“But to take this case was a nonsense. Orangemen attend funerals and wedding s of friends all the time and are never disciplined. This was something of a showcase trial and quite rightly failed.”

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UUP chief tells of 'shame' over Orange Order's stance
http://www.belfastte...e-16067834.html
By Noel McAdam
Monday, 24 October 2011

The UUP chairman has spoken of his "shame and disgust" that an Orange Order lodge attempted to discipline party leader Tom Elliott for attending the funeral Mass of murdered RUC constable Ronan Kerr.

David Campbell, who is also an Orangeman, told the party conference the institution had been brought into "serious disrepute" by the episode

And he said by attending the funeral Mass Mr Elliott and the deputy leader Danny Kennedy, who also faced a disciplinary hearing, had "exhibited a greater Christian charity that those lodge members can ever hope to".

Both Mr Elliott and the Regional Development Minister were cleared by their respective county lodges who said they had "no case to answer" and there would be no disciplinary procedures.

The members of St Simon's LOL 821 from Sandy Row in Belfast which lodged the complaint can still appeal. Mr Campbell said he had also been angered that no Ulster Unionist had been invited to the unveiling of a plaque to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the IRA killing of former MP, the Rev Robert Bradford, apparently because the House of Commons authorities believed he had been a DUP MP.

The South Belfast MP, who stood for Vanguard before joining the UUP the year before his election, was shot dead as he conducted his morning 'surgery' in Finaghy on November 14, 1981.

Meanwhile, the UUP intends to conduct what it says will be the largest political polling ever conducted in Northern Ireland to try to ascertain why so many unionist voters are staying away from the polls and failing to support the party.

Mr Kennedy said since taking over the Regional Development department in May he had attempted to clean up the "mess" left by his predecessor, Conor Murphy of Sinn Fein.

[Kilsally]

Sandyrow Orangemen fight Grand Lodge Catholic funeral judgments
By Noel McAdam
Wednesday, 16 November 2011


The Orange Order has plunged back into public controversy over disciplinary action against senior members — including Ulster Unionist leader Tom Elliott — for attending the funeral of murdered Catholic PSNI constable Ronan Kerr.

Mr Elliott and his party’s minister, Danny Kennedy, were exonerated over the issue last month following separate internal inquiries.

The organisation’s rules allow an appeal against the verdicts, which the Belfast brethren who initiated the original complaint have now lodged.

It is not clear, however, what the next step will be, but it is understood the refreshed complaint will be discussed by the Order’s supreme body, the Grand Lodge, at its next meeting in December.

Senior Orange figures and Ulster Unionists had breathed a sigh of relief after MLAs Elliott and Kennedy — both long-serving members of their local lodges — were found to have “no case to answer” by county lodges in Fermanagh and Armagh.

Now the decision of the Sandy Row lodge to appeal will drag the embarrassing internal row out for several more weeks at least.

The Grand Lodge could, however, decide against allowing the appeal to go ahead, although opinions differ over internal procedures, and some argue the complaint will have to be heard.

There was no immediate response from Mr Elliott and Mr Kennedy but their party’s chairman, David Campbell, has spoken of his “shame and disgust” over the row.

Speaking at the recent UUP annual conference, he said: “As an Ulster Unionist Party member and an Orangeman for over 30 years, I was ashamed and disgusted that a Belfast lodge saw fit to try to discipline our leader and our minister because they paid their respects on behalf of this party to a young police officer murdered by terrorists.

“They exhibited a greater Christian charity than that lodge’s members can ever hope to.

“I welcome the dismissal of this issue by Tom and Danny’s county lodges.”

A spokesman for the Order declined to comment on the grounds the complaint was an “internal matter”.

The row first surfaced in June when it was learned that the lodge, St Simon's Church Total Abstinence LOL 821 on Sandy Row in Belfast, formally wrote to Mr Elliott and Mr Kennedy’s county lodges arguing the two men “should have known better”.

Background

Among the rules for Orange Order members is the instruction: “You should not countenance by your presence or otherwise any act or ceremony of Popish worship.” In the past, Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble and then party chairman Dennis Rogan faced disciplinary action for attending the funeral Mass of three victims of the Omagh bombing.



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