ONE man who is particularly looking forward to this year’s special Twelfth of July celebrations is 98-year-old Willy Robinson from Magheraveely

Magheraveely is one of seven locations for this year’s Twelfth demonstrations, but the Border village is in a unique sitation as it is the first time there has been a Twelfth demonstration in the village since 1926.

Speaking to this newspaper, Billy and his wife, Margaret, said: “We are looking forward to it coming. Part of it will be in the field near our house.”

Billy was only a boy when the Twelfth was last celebrated in Magheraveely.

Decision

The move was part of a decision by the Grand Orange Lodge to allow each district to host localised celebrations, with Newtownbutler District hosting in Magheraveely.

The Robinsons are looking forward to the event and soaking up the atmosphere as it takes part nearby.

Parades will be hosted in Ballinamallard, Brookeborough, Enniskillen, Kesh, Magheraveely, Maguiresbridge, and Monea.

Kesh will be hosting Pettigo District; Ballinamallard District will be hosting Lisnarick District, Garrison District and Churchill District.

Enniskillen District will play host to Glenawley District and Lisbellaw District.

Maguiresbridge District will host Lisnaskea District and Kinawley District; Brookborough District will host Tempo, and the village of Magherveeley will play host to Newtownbutler District.

Fivemiletown District will host their demonstation in Fivemiletown, and Trillick will host Fintona District.

For the second year in a row there will be no demonstration in Rossnowlogh, Co. Donegal.

All parades will assemble at 11.30am to begin marching at 12pm. This is to avoid people travelling across Fermanagh to attend all the parades.

Social Distancing

Looking forward to the demonstrations, County Grandmaster Paul Stevenson said: “Social Distancing is still going on – we are being as responsible as we can with the 500 [people allowed to participate in the parades, as part of Coronavirus regulations for outside gatherings], and we will still be leaving everything as it is. There no point in changing plans at the last minute.

“The parades will be the same across Northern Ireland, with a noon start for everything. The idea of that is to stop people travelling from one parade to the other across the county; this was planned by the Grand Lodge, and it’s the same for all the parades everywhere.”

There will be a short religious service during the events.

The key message from the County Grand Master is that Social Distancing rules must be followed.

He said: “Social Distancing is the key, and abide by the Covid-19 rules as they stand – that is the message we are putting out there.

“I would like to think that spectators will observe the Social Distancing, even when we have no control over them because people will turn up anyway.

“Our Lodge men will keep themselves in line, and the main aim is to keep the spread of the virus down.”