THE number of people joining the Orange Order is growing in Donegal, its leaders have said.
The organisation says the Queen’s visit last year together with funding from the Irish government has helped the resurgence in the organisation ahead of its annual parade to Rossnowlagh this Saturday.
“Numbers-wise everything is on the increase in Donegal,” said Alan Laird, Convoy Worshipful Master.
“It’s something that’s hard to understand as actual Protestant numbers are probably falling, but we’ve gone from strength to strength.
“All the halls in the area are second to none. All the bands affiliated to us are doing well on the competition circuit. It’s just good times to be an Orangeman in Donegal at the moment.”
Meanwhile Sinn Féin TD Padraig MacLochlainn says it is important that the neighbouring communities in Donegal strive to develop a better understanding of each other.
He added: “I never want to see a situation, as an Irish Republican and as a TD for Donegal, where those of the Protestant tradition, of the Ulster Scots tradition and of the Orange tradition, feel they have to keep their heads down.
“That’s a key challenge for me, to always reassure them and reach out and I hope I’ve done that, I’ve tried to do it in the past and that’s a key challenge for all of us.”
