When I became editor of this great newspaper back in the late 1980s, I was enthusiastic and keen to make my mark. As unlikely as it seems now, at the time the big unwieldy broadsheet’s front page was filled with advertisements.

The full page 'Wilson’s sale' brought in a decent sum. Most readers appreciated the change to front page news, but surprisingly it wasn’t universally welcomed.

Not everyone likes change, but I thought if the Impartial was going to remain relevant it needed to be more up to date.

“If things are going to stay the same around here, things are going to have to change,” was my thinking.

Another early change that I thought was needed was an end to the wall-to-wall coverage of the Twelfth of July parades. So, one year I reduced the number of pages of reports and photos drastically. This brought the inevitable complaint and requests from Orange leaders for a meeting.

In fairness there was no sense of entitlement or anger from them, but they did point out their disappointment because of the importance of their occasion to the culture of their community which they felt deserved better coverage.

In discussing the Orange Order in a divided society, there is often a lot of focus on the wider image of its role and purpose, whether it’s pro-Protestant or anti-Catholic and sometimes it’s forgotten that for many of those families involved it’s simply part of the social fabric of their background and community.

Mea culpa. It wasn’t the last time I admitted to making a mistake, even if on other occasions I said no to various demanding deputations from various interests. But that time, I felt it was better for the paper to reflect more of all communities and rather than exclude or limit any one section, I should instead open up the paper to all of them.

Balance in putting things in the public domain is important, coverage of anything doesn’t mean endorsement.

So, I am not unmindful of the sensitivities over the BBC decision to end the live television coverage of the Belfast parade this year. But, hey, aside from the fact that the Corporation stopped live coverage before and the world (or Orangeism) didn’t end, I think the highlights and news coverage by the Beeb seems entirely appropriate in this day and age.

That didn’t stop the outrage from certain Orange and other Unionist voices which were loud enough to force temporary head honcho Adam Smyth down from his bunker on the sixth floor to face the cameras for a change to defend the decision.

Not that it did him much good in changing the perception of the Orange community, or indeed the opposite perception of many of the rest of us.

And anyway, his emphasis on the financial aspect of the decision didn’t convince anyone either.

The idea being vociferously promoted that somehow the BBC is now anti-Unionist seems a nonsense to me; tell that to the Nolan critics for a start who complain of an abundance of contributions from Jamie Bryson and Jim Allister……whose party ironically was one of the first out of the blocks to lambast the BBC.

It seems to be the way now that there is a predominance of voices from a section of the Unionist community which heightens the paranoia that everyone and everything is engaged in a plot to undermine them.

They don’t exactly portray a confident outward-looking Unionism, and they don’t do themselves any favours in convincing those who see the loyal order as an anachronism in a modern age.

Furthermore, there are other issues for the Orange Order.

Firstly, they need to accept that their influence within the wider Protestant community has diminished over a century, and also it would seem they fail to see the change that is all around in Northern Ireland.

One Protestant interviewee I read recently described it as no longer “Orange supremacy”.

When the Grand Secretary, Mervyn Gibson was being interviewed on radio last week, he referred to the 'Orange-Unionist' community. Presumably, he did mean a specific section of Unionism, but the impression is often given that one strand of Protestantism is dominant and more important than others.

Orange culture is an important part of Protestant history and culture, but just one part and there are many other varied strands.

Thomas Carnduff, known as 'The Shipyard Poet' was born in Sandy Row in Belfast in the late 19th century and wrote about his family’s association with the Order, particularly in the early part of the 20th century when to his brothers “Protestantism and the Orange Society meant more than their daily bread and butter”.

His writing was capable of independent thought about the Order, and it’s the sort of critical thinking we need more of today…..from within the Order and from the rest of us.

Back then, it was fair to say that Orangeism and Unionism were inextricably linked, with the Orange Lodges being able to elect a number of delegates directly on to the Ulster Unionist Council. I’m not sure if that situation still exists today, or if there are formal links between Unionist parties and the Orange Order.

Years ago the Orange held great influence in Protestant communities across Northern Ireland and such influence wasn’t always used for the benefit of all Protestants, never mind other communities.

Those days are gone. I’m never sure whether the Orange Order is a cultural, religious or political organisation, but in today’s secular world its membership tends to be an older profile. And numbers continue to fall. The Orange Order was church-based and many younger people today either don’t go to church or don’t see the relevance of the Order to their faith.

As regards many people who are still supportive of the Orange tradition, I’m wondering how many of them simply take an interest in the music and colour, and a sense of belonging, without really knowing much more about what history of it and what its current thinking is all about.

What is the role of what, to some, is a secret society in 2022?

As someone from a Protestant background, I’ve never had any connection to the Orange Order. I just don’t get it, and as such admit I’ve never had any empathy for it. But I have to acknowledge the Orange community is part of wider society and deserve their place in it.

Live television coverage, or the lack of it, doesn’t really amount to a hill of beans; the real picture that should come into focus is that the resentment being fostered takes attention away from the change that has taken place in society and the failure of the Orange leadership to lose a sense of entitlement and adapt to sharing this place.

If they want respect, they must give respect to others and recognise that the BBC decision is part of a wider change and the Order needs to adapt to change. If everyone stays in their silo and doesn’t engage, that’s poor leadership.