Original version

BBC Radio Foyle

From the North West of Northern Ireland -local news, sport, weather, speech and music

The North West of Northern Ireland's station for local news, live sport, weather, intelligent speech, great personalities and music to suit all tastes

Migrated podcast image for: Stories In Sound

Stories in Sound

Documentaries

Factual

Radio Ulster brings together radio documentaries from UK and Irish broadcasters.

Radio Ulster brings together some of the best radio documentaries from UK and Irish broadcasters.

BBC Radio Ulster

Stories in Sound: Orangemen on the Equator

Orangemen

04/10/2015

Orangemen on the Equator

BBC Radio Ulster - Stories in Sound, Orangemen on the Equator

Journalist Chris Page journeys to West Africa to meet members of the Ghanaian Orange Order

As the organisation considers its future in its Northern Ireland heartland, journalist Chris Page journeys to West Africa to meet members of the Ghanaian Orange Order.

Founded 220 years ago, the Orange Order is a Protestant organisation which, its members say, stands for civil liberties, fraternity and faith. However in the divided society of Northern Ireland it is rarely out of the news. Many Irish Nationalists and Republicans view it as an anti-Catholic, triumphalist organisation and disputes over some contentious Orange parades have generated headlines around the world.

What is less well known is that in a tropical land three thousand miles away, there are Orange lodges made up of African men and women. Members of the Orange Order in Ghana share the same emblems and follow the same rituals as their brethren in Northern Ireland. While there may not be sectarian conflict in their homeland, the Orangemen on the Equator feel they too are misrepresented and misunderstood.

Journalist Chris Page travels to West Africa to find out how the Orange Order took root there. Comparing the African brand of Orangeism to that found in his native Northern Ireland, he peers into the soul of an organisation which has been characterised by its ability to survive. While members in Ulster say they have been demonised by Irish Nationalists opposed to their Unionism, their brethren in Ghana describe their challenges in the face of prejudice from churches and wider society.

From post-colonial Ghana to post-conflict Northern Ireland, Chris asks what the true essence of this often controversial fraternity really is - and what these two contrasting branches of the Orange Order can learn from each other as they consider their futures.

Northern Ireland's national station for local news, sport, weather, speech and music

Northern Ireland's national station for local news, live sport, weather, intelligent speech, great personalities and music to suit all tastes

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Stories in Sound

Orangemen on the Equator

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio Foyle

About BBC Radio Foyle