Comber Twelfth Celebrations Attended By Thousands

“The Orange Order is very keen to promote the whole idea of tourism around the Twelfth parades and it looks like it’s working today.” The Northern Ireland Tourist Board has been assisting the Orange Order to help develop the tourist image and package and it is early days yet in this development.” People have traveled from across the world to be at this event and Down News chatted to the Green family from Dromara. Robert Green has just come back from Australia and had been looking forward to the Twelfth in Comber with the rest of his family.  And there were others from Scotland and England present too. Over 500,000 people take part and watch the Twelfth parades in Northern Ireland and this is by far the biggest public event. As political and civil stability increases, more visitors are planning their holidays to coincide with the Twelfth week. Unionism is trying to reinvent itself and as we enter the second stable Assembly period where anything may happen and probably will, we are now entering a Brave New World where old attitudes and behaviours are slowly changing. However, the current violence in Belfast will do nothing to improve community relations or add to future prosperity. You can view 100 photographs of the Twelfth in Comber on Down News Facebook, and on the Flickr Gallery.