Arch and parade to mark UlsterCovenant

The parade of all Lodges and bands with their banners and flags will take place on evening of the 100th anniversary of Ulster Day, Friday, September 28.

All Lodges and bands are asked to assemble at Mill Place beside the bus station car park at 7.00pm and the parade will move off at 7.15pm. With the exception of the Twelfth demonstration, this will be the first time in many years that all Lodges and bands will have paraded in this form.

The parade will take the following route: Mill Place, Main Street, Connell Street, Irish Green Street, Rathbrady Road, Massey Avenue to Protestant Street. When the parade arrives in Protestant Street a new ‘Ulster Covenant to the Somme’ themed Arch will be dedicated by a District Chaplain and opened by a guest of honour who is yet to be named. A short re-enactment of the signing of the Covenant will also take place before the parade reforms and returns to the assembly point via: Catherine Street, Linenhall Street, Main Street, Mill Place.

Limavady will once again be traditionally decorated with the Union flag and in red white and blue. The streets will reverberate with the sound of the Fife and Lambeg drum, flags and banners will be flown in what will be a very special celebration of an event that launched a nation.

Orangemen, women and bands from Limavady will travel to Belfast the next day to take part in what will also be a most memorable occasion, as the footsteps of Carson and our forefathers are retraced through Belfast. This is the start of a decade of commemorations that will ultimately climax in the celebration of the centenary of Northern Ireland itself. Orangeism has recently seen a revitalisation across the Roe Valley and members are rightly looking forward to the coming celebrations.