Parading Anxieties: Drumcree, Sectarianism, and the Contested Production of Knowledge in Peace Process Era Northern Ireland by Andrea Walisser B.A. (Hons., History), Simon Fraser University, 2009 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of History Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Andrea Walisser 2013 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2013 Approval Name: Andrea Walisser Degree: Master of Arts (History) Title of Thesis: Parading Anxieties: Drumcree, Sectarianism, and the Contested Production of Knowledge in Peace Process Era Northern Ireland Examining Committee: Chair:Aaron Windel Assistant Professor of History Willeen Keough Senior Supervisor Associate Professor of History Leith Davis Supervisor Professor of English David Wilson External Examiner Professor, Department of History University of Toronto Date Defended: September 13, 2013 ii Partial Copyright Licence iii Abstract The conflict over the Drumcree parade that erupted less than a year after the IRA announced its landmark 1994 ceasefire acted as a lightning rod for the social anxieties being brought on by the acceleration of Northern Ireland’s peace process. This thesis argues that Drumcree provided a significant forum in which the public in Northern Ireland debated and contested the social, economic, and political changes being wrought by the process. It examines the public conversation about Drumcree to show that the mid- 1990s saw Protestants and Catholics beginning to grapple with the changing power relationship between them that was a central characteristic of this period, identifying Drumcree as a space wherein the dynamic nature of the sectarian divide becomes visible to historians. It suggests that the perceived significance of the outcome of the dispute led participants on both sides to attempt to influence public perception of Drumcree through the production of knowledge about the conflict, and prompted those critical of the conflict to resist the imposition of these competing narratives. Keywords: Northern Ireland; peace process; sectarianism; Orange Order; parading; cultural knowledge iv Acknowledgements I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my senior supervisor, Dr. Willeen Keough, not only for her indispensable guidance, support, and good humour during the undertaking of this thesis work, but also for the several years of mentorship she has offered me throughout my career at SFU, first as an undergraduate, and then as a graduate student. It has been a pleasure and an honour to develop my skills as a student of history under her tutelage. Professor Leith Davis provided invaluable input as a scholar of print culture and Scottish and Irish nationalism and literature, and was an excellent fit as a second supervisor of a history project that focused so much on narrative, discourse, and literary analysis. Professor David Wilson’s offer to serve as external examiner on this thesis from far afield was hugely appreciated; I very much valued his expertise in the field, as well as his propensity to ask those tough questions about Northern Ireland for which there are not often easy answers. Dr. Aaron Windel approached this thesis from the unique perspective of a British historian—at once inside and outside the Northern Ireland fold— and his contributions were most welcome. I thank each of my committee members for their thoughtful and challenging questions and suggestions, which will undoubtedly help me to improve as a scholar and a historian going forward. I also thank Dr. Dominic Bryan and the faculty and staff at the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s University Belfast for supporting my research and for making me feel so at home in Northern Ireland. In addition to setting me up with library privileges and a workspace for the duration of my stay, Dr. Bryan was kind enough to offer me access to the extensive collection of Drumcree-related texts that he collected over the course of the conflict in his capacity as an anthropologist and researcher at the Centre for the Study of Conflict at the University of Ulster. At present, few of these texts have been collected in any official archive and thus are not readily accessible to historians; it was extremely beneficial to have the opportunity to work with this collection. Dr. Bryan’s extensive knowledge of Orange parading disputes and his recollections about Drumcree also provided important context for me as I began my fieldwork. v I gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which helped to fund this research through graduate and travel grants. The completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the support of my parents, Bev and Colin Walisser, who have been unfailingly encouraging of my academic endeavours from the earliest. I have benefitted hugely from our graduate program’s collegial and collaborative atmosphere, and from the feedback of some excellent scholars and peers, many of whom have become great friends. I would like to particularly acknowledge Paulo Amaral, Sarah Nickel, and Maddie Knickerbocker for their invaluable input and consistent willingness to listen and offer advice. The many conversations we had about our respective projects, often in passing or while lingering in office doorways, were some of the most helpful and significant moments in the development and “figuring out” of my ideas and arguments. I would also like to acknowledge the support I have received from my other friends and loved ones, many of whom have experienced varying degrees of “sympathy pains” over the past few years, and are as happy as anyone to see the completion of this thesis. Finally, I would like to thank the staff and faculty in the Department of History, where, in particular, I have had the opportunity to learn from several brilliant women scholars and writers whose mentorship is much valued, and whose examples will put me in good stead moving forward. My tenure as a history student at SFU has been nothing but enjoyable. vi Table of Contents Approval .......................................................................................................................... ii Partial Copyright Licence ............................................................................................... iii Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... v Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vii List of Figures................................................................................................................ viii List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................. ix Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 Parading Anxieties: A Society in Transition ..................................................................... 4 Literature ....................................................................................................................... 18 Chapter 1. Re-making Myths: The Deployment of Tropes at Drumcree ............... 26 The Orange Citadel and the Siege of Drumcree ............................................................ 30 Nationalists under Siege ............................................................................................... 39 Claiming Victimhood: Orange Narratives of Civil Rights and Oppression ...................... 44 Nationalist Discourses of Victimhood at Drumcree ........................................................ 51 Chapter 2. The Authority of Experience and the Creation of Information ............ 63 Giving Testimony .......................................................................................................... 65 Writing Histories ............................................................................................................ 77 “The Facts” .................................................................................................................... 83 Maps ............................................................................................................................. 88 Chapter 3. Negotiating Dissent: Drumcree’s Discontents ..................................... 96 Negotiating Identity under the Tyranny of Narrative ....................................................... 97 Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Church of Ireland Navigates Drumcree ......... 107 “In levity there is relief”: Satirical Interpretations of the Dispute ................................... 115 Drumcree Holidays ’97 ....................................................................................................... 117 “Give My Head Peace”: The Hole in the Wall Gang ........................................................... 122 The Portadown News ......................................................................................................... 129 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 135 Bibliography .............................................................................................................. 140 Unpublished Primary Sources ....................................................................................