Exclusive: Parades Commission 'u-turn' over Drumcree mediation - as countdown begins for talks over proposed parade
The Parades Commission has performed a “screeching handbrake turn” by announcing the appointment of a mediator in the Drumcree parade dispute, the DUP MP Carla Lockhart has said.
The Orange Order has accepted the offer to talk, with no pre-conditions – but it is unclear who they would be talking to.
Sinn Fein has branded the idea of a parade on the Garvaghy Road as “a non-starter” and a “closed issue” – saying a parade is not welcome in the “nationalist area”.
However, Ms Lockhart says a Drumcree parade is now “very much on the table” and questioned whether the republican party would now “backtrack and accept that dialogue is the only way forward”.
Jamie Bryson, the legal advisor to the Portadown District of the Orange Order, says the mediation offer is “very significant” and urged Sinn Fein to “commit to approach this as a rights-based issue”.
Yesterday, the Orange announced its proposal to complete its Drumcree church parade – requesting a silent walk down the Garvaghy Road with no more than 60 participants, with no bands.
However, the loyal institution has said that the Drumcree dispute will not reach “a final and lasting settlement” until the full Portadown District is allowed to complete the parade, banned almost three decades ago.
In May, Portadown District wrote to the Parades Commission seeking mediation. The quango said it did not receive it until 26th July, after this year’s determination.
However, it has now put an independent mediator in place, and set a deadline of 5pm on Monday afternoon for Orangemen to confirm whether they will attend. They say they will.
Ms Lockhart told the News Letter: “This is a hugely significant development. After the Orangemen and unionism being told that Drumcree was ‘settled’ and ‘off the table’, the Parades Commission - in a fundamental and screeching handbrake turn - have now confirmed they will appoint an independent mediator on the issue of Drumcree.
“It is another significant validation of the position urged by the Portadown District for many years, meanwhile nationalists and Republicans obstinately refused to engage in dialogue, content they had it all their own way and with a Commission who would ensure that remained the status quo. That position has collapsed.
“Sinn Fein have bound themselves to clear and unequivocal position via Catherine Nelson. There will be no talks, no mediation, no dialogue and a parade is ‘off the table’.
“It is clear Drumcree is now very much on the table. Will Sinn Fein now backtrack and accept that dialogue is the only way forward, thus exposing the vacuous hollowness of Catherine Nelson’s defiant rhetoric?”
Jamie Bryson said: “This is very significant, and blows a hole in the Parades Commission’s previous approach. SF emphatically and defiantly ruled out mediation, thus they are now in a bind of their own making.
“Drumcree is firmly back on the table, and the Orange have offered talks without precondition.
“The starting point of any talks should be an unequivocal commitment from all participants to the rule of law, and a formal public commitment that regardless of what way any determination goes, that all parties agreed lawful means only will be used to challenge it and that disruptive protest, violence or disorder is off the table.
“We need to all commit to approach this as a rights-based issue, and ensuring the rights of all citizens are balanced equitably.
“It is about rights, respect and equality of treatment. Given Sinn Fein’s long commitment to building a rights based society, I would be shocked if they do not share these sentiments”.
A spokesperson for the Parades Commission told the News Letter: “The Commission has always recognised that disputes over public processions are, where possible, best resolved at a local level.
“The Commission has always promoted and been prepared to facilitate mediation in their commitment to working towards peaceful and respectful parading, reducing tensions, and improving community relations”.
First Minister and Sinn Fein vice president Michelle O’Neill made her opposition to any parade clear in a post on social media, saying: “The days of unwanted marches being imposed on the Garvaghy Road community are over.
“The people of this small community should be left to live in peace, free from fear and intimidation.
“Sinn Fein stands fully with the people of Garvaghy Road".
At a press conference yesterday, Deputy District Master Alistair Power said the proposed march would take place on September 27 and would include 60 people marching along the Garvaghy Road wearing collarettes with no music. He said: “This limited parade is proportionate, inoffensive and wholly reasonable.”