The Orange Order has announced plans to build two museums in Northern Ireland at a cost of £3.6 million (€4.5m).The aim of the project is to promote better understanding and increased tolerance of its organisation.
Funding for the museums is coming from the EU's Peace III Programme and it will be spent on the projects in Belfast and Armagh.
The initiative is also supported by the Government, which is providing €740,000 from the Department of the Environment under the Peace III Programme, and the Stormont Assembly.
Minister for the Environment Phil Hogan said the new project could create better levels of mutual understanding on both sides of the border.
The Orange Order has been criticised recently over the behaviour of a loyalist band outside a Catholic church in Belfast during a parade, when one bandsman was photographed urinating beside the church.
Director of Services with the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland Dr David Hume said he understood that it was not a clear cut story and that the incident is being investigated.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Dr Hume said there continues to be hurt and distrust in Northern Ireland.
He said there may still be what he called "glitches" or instances of bad behaviour on either side in the short term, but that the Orange Order's efforts are to look at creating greater understanding in the longer term.
"We are a community that has just come out of 40 years of violence and terrorism. There is mistrust, there is hurt, there are difficulties in the relationships between communities," Dr Hume said.
"These things will, in the short term, continue to happen, and to be honest about it, that's the way its going to be".