The Independent Loyal Orange Institution, has added its voice to those from the Unionist Community to expose the betrayal of the present British Government and the breach of their promises around BREXIT. Prime Minister Boris Johnston when standing in Northern Ireland a few short months ago declared

“We would be damaging the fabric of the union with regulatory checks and even customs controls between Great Britain and Northern Ireland on top of those extra regulatory checks down the Irish Sea that are already envisaged in the withdrawal agreement.”

He later promised in August 2020

 “There will be no border down the Irish Sea… over my dead body.”

It is now time that he is made to honour those promises. It is now time to undo the damage of the Protocol and restore Northern Ireland’s equal position within the United Kingdom.

Speaking about the Protocol and calling for Unionist Unity and Action Imperial Grand Master James Anderson said:

During the protracted Brexit negotiations, the EU, with the full encouragement of nationalists north and south, cynically used the Irish land border as a convenient weapon to make the UK’s withdrawal as painful and difficult as possible. 

Sadly, the British Government failed to stand up to this pressure and, in order to achieve Brexit in Great Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his cronies showed themselves quite prepared, without any embarrassment whatever, to deceive, and then betray, the Unionist people of Northern Ireland. As Rudyard Kipling said back in 1912, “What need of further lies? We are the sacrifice”.

The Northern Ireland Protocol is one of the most serious threats to the Union in the past century. Not only does it create serious economic and trading barriers, but it fundamentally alters Northern Ireland’s constitutional position within the United Kingdom. This is totally unacceptable.

We have been cut adrift in the Irish Sea by a Prime Minister who professes to be a Unionist but is nothing other than a charlatan and a conman. As so often in the past, it is imperative that Unionists unite in the face of such treachery. Petty squabbling and finger-pointing must be set aside and we must all stand together. We assure our leaders of our full support as they seek to deal with the challenges presented by this iniquitous Protocol.  

The decision by the EU, albeit hurriedly withdrawn, to invoke article 16 of the Protocol in relation to Covid vaccine supplies, was a real wake-up call and a reminder of the utter selfishness and ruthlessness of the EU. Her Majesty’s Government must now invoke that same article in the interests of the well-being of its citizens in Northern Ireland.

We are bemused by the patronising calls for calm from those who were in a frenzy over the possibility of an Irish land border, but, while we appreciate that the Unionist people are rightly angry, there can be no justification for any threat of violence. Paramilitaries, with their sinister agenda and tactics, need to stay out of this crisis, and leave it in the hands of our democratically elected politicians. They need our full support and prayers at this time. 

The ILOI would urge all Unionists to work for the removal of this Protocol by making this Protocol unworkable. We have clear steps which can be taken to show that we will not acquiesce in our own destruction, they must be taken now.

Leading Our Community

Time to Unite and Act in Defence of the Union

In this the Centenary year of Northern Ireland our generation must act with the same courage and wisdom and not let compromise prevail we must act to ensure the very survival of Northern Ireland and our place in the United Kingdom.


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