Part of this may be pragmatic, given the terrible public image the Order assumed after the bombing. A meeting is scheduled for this Saturday at which Saulters is expected to tell his members they should vote to overturn last year's decision barring local lodges from entering talks with Irish nationalists. The Orange lodge in Portadown, the order's largest, is said to be opposed to the policy change, mostly because they believe the local groups are merely fronts for the terrorist organization Sinn Fein. On the side of the road where Protestants live, Britain's Union Jack flies on every telephone pole. On the other side, where Catholics reside, the Irish flag is on an equal number of poles.
British troops patrol the area to keep the sides apart.
A spiritual illness leads to murder in Northern Ireland. A mental illness leads to murder in Washington. Having sown the wind of indifference about the meaningful things of life, we are reaping its meaningless harvest.