‘Freedom has to be supported on a cross community basis’

Mr Lunn, whose father was a lifelong member of the Orange Order, insists he has nothing against ‘Orangeism’ and acknowledges ‘that they do some good work within their own support’

However he believes it is inappropriate for an organisation which “refuses membership to a large section of the population on the grounds of their religion, or the absence of it”, to be honoured in this way.

Mr Lunn commented: “The motion appears to have been met by the citizens of Lisburn with the scepticism it deserves and I have no doubt that it will be withdrawn before long. Lisburn has a history of granting freedoms and while the decisions were not always unanimous, it is a fact that the recipients were deserving of the honour in terms of service to the city.”

He said: “The best the DUP could come up with was the willingness of the Order to open their halls to events not connected to the organisation, a facility used I fancy very infrequently, and the fact that the Order collects money for distribution to charities.

“Further the Order still instructs its members not to enter a Roman Catholic place of worship - witness the attempt to discipline Tom Elliott and Danny Kennedy, although I am really pleased to see that instruction being ignored by right thinking members in recent years.”

Mr Lunn hopes that the DUP will “get real” and withdraw their proposal in a “dignified way” and that the Order will continue to make progress towards a wider community acceptance.

“In the meantime the Council can get on with the useful work of which it is capable for the benefit of all the people who elected it,” he said.

“A freedom ceremony costs maybe £50,000 of ratepayers money and the code of conduct for councillors makes it absolutely clear that to vote to spend public money for the benefit of an organisation to which a councillor is connected is a breach of the rules”, explained the MLA.

Lisburn City council agreed last month to pass the DUP proposal to the committee stage, despite opposition from Sinn Fein and the Alliance Party.

It will go through equality screening, for assessment on whether it has the potential to impact differently and unfairly on various groups.

The motion was proposed by Paul Givan, a DUP councillor and Assembly member.