Residents' group '˜nothing to say' on Drumcree report

The report was carried in Saturday’s News Letter that District Master Darryl Hewitt had, some years ago, persuaded the respected priest to chair possible negotiations at a south Armagh retreat, between district officers and the coalition – but that the move was rebuffed by the residents.

He told this newspaper that the cleric was ready and willing to chair the talks “with a totally open agenda to effect an agreement – whether it was a parade every year; a parade every other year; a parade never; a parade every 10 years; or special anniversaries”.

But the residents failed to respond. And that seemed to be the attitude when the News Letter contacted the Garvaghy Road main spokesman Breandan Mac Cionnaith over the weekend.

He insisted that he had not read Saturday’s News Letter which carried the report that Mr Hewitt had gone to extraordinary lengths to start the talks, “with all our (the Order’s) efforts snubbed by the residents since we changed our policy for face-to-face talks”.

When the News Letter informed him that it had sent him an email of the detailed report, he responded: “I haven’t time to read it now or send a response. I’ll try and get round to reading it between now and next Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime, I don’t want to discuss it.

“We’re usually faced with reports like this at this time of the year, and I’m not commenting about it any more.”

The statement reflects the changing attitudes on both sides of the Drumcree dispute since it erupted in violence in the late 1990s.

The parade was banned in 1998 and there were several nights of violence in the aftermath.

As things calmed down at the turn of the millennium, the Orange side refused talks with the coalition – and when they finally agreed in 2005, it was the residents’ turn to stay away from the table.

“The Parades Commission put us under relentless pressure to go into talks,” said Mr Hewitt. “But they aren’t pressurising the coalition.”

Mr Mac Cionnaith has consistently said there is nothing to negotiate, with the Parades Commission having banned the march, while coalition chairman Joe Duffy has described it as “a dead duck”.

But the Orangemen refuse to accept this, and over the 18 years of the ban have conducted a protest march down to police lines every Sunday, with the annual ‘Drumcree Sunday’ event each July the centrepiece of the protest.

Speaking from Drumcree Hill on Sunday, Mr Hewitt reiterated that the Parades Commission is “more of a hindrance than a help in the quest for talks leading to a resolution”, adding that he had been in touch with First Minister Arlene Foster and hoped to elicit the help of Sinn Fein in the search for “open talks”.

A spokesperson for the Parades Commission said: “The divisive legacy of the Drumcree parading dispute is well understood by everyone involved.

“Information provided to the commission, including an independent report in 2014, has highlighted the extent of these divisions and found that the dispute is for many communities linked to a number of traumatic events during the Troubles.

“The commission continues to keep under review all aspects of the dispute, including maintaining contact with a wide range of stakeholders.

“The commission has consistently encouraged all parties to agree an agenda for dialogue.”