a more responsible line?

There are a couple of threads already up on the violence in Belfast and elsewhere last night, but it’s worth highlighting the comments today of Chief Constable Hugh Orde, whose officers came under sustained attack from petrol bombs, blast bombs and gunfire, as reported here by the BBC.. and the reaction from the Orange Order to those comments.

Hugh Orde said, and his comments are included in the online news video at the link –

“I have seen members of the Orange Order in their sashes attacking my officers. I have seen them standing next to masked men.

“That is simply not good enough,” Sir Hugh said.

“The Orange Order must bear substantial responsibility for this. They publicly called people on to the streets.”

“I think if you do that, you cannot then abdicate responsibility.”

and the Orange Order response –

In a statement, the Orange Order said it would not be speaking to the media until it had evaluated what had happened.

“While the Orange Order has noted the chief constable’s intemperate, inflammatory and inaccurate remarks, we have decided to take a more responsible line and will not be drawn into a similar knee-jerk reaction,” it said.

“At this stage, all we would say is that if what we saw today was policing, it was policing at its worst.”

Who needs satire?

Slugger O'Toole

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