Parades Commission warned not to 'reward' Drumcree parade opponents for snubbing talks
The opponents of the Orange Order’s efforts to complete the Drumcree parade must not be “rewarded” for their refusal to enter talks, a unionist MP has said.
Jim Allister made the comment as it emerged that a body has been appointed to mediate between the marchers and their opponents – though a man who says he speaks for the Garvaghy Road residents has indicated they are not willing to engage.
In addition, the DUP and the TUV have spoken out strongly against Sinn Fein efforts to involve the Dublin government in the Drumcree dispute.
Sinn Fein MLA John O’Dowd said he had written to the taoiseach Micheal Martin inviting him to come and visit the Garvaghy Road, saying: “It’s vitally important that the Irish government stand up for the rights of the citizens here.”
Mr Allister said that “the Irish government has neither the right nor any legitimate role in attempting to influence the outcome of a lawful process concerning a parade within the United Kingdom”.
This echoed comments from DUP MP Carla Lockhart, who had condemned Sinn Fein for “desperately reaching out to the taoiseach in an attempt to weaponise him in its continuing campaign to deny the basic rights of Orangemen”.
She added that “the constitutional position is clear – the regulation of parading is an internal matter for the United Kingdom; it is not the responsibility of the Irish government, and any attempt by the Irish prime minister to meddle in this process would be wholly inappropriate”.
The Orange Order’s Portadown District meanwhile said that “this stunt is from a political party who are desperate for relevance on this issue, having neglected the Garvaghy Road community for 28 years once they had served their strategic purpose”.
The Parades Commission is currently considering an application for a scaled-down parade of 60 Orangemen from Drumcree Parish Church to the north of Portadown into the town centre, traversing the Garvaghy Road, on Sunday, September 27.
The latest twist in the decades’-old dispute came late on Thursday night, when Portadown District confirmed that mediators had been appointed by the Parades Commission.
However, Breandan MacCionnaith, a spokesperson for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, objected to the firm that has been hired for the mediation, saying: “It is back to the drawing board for the Parades Commission.”
Mr MacCionnaith served four years in prison in the 1980s for his role in an IRA bomb attack on the Royal British Legion building in Portadown.
Today, he is associated with socialist republican party Eirigi.
Jim Allister has now said: “Portadown District has repeatedly expressed its willingness to engage in mediation, yet the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition has now rejected the mediator appointed by the commission.
“The Parades Commission has a statutory duty to facilitate mediation.
"It must not reward the residents’ refusal to participate by allowing them to exercise a permanent veto over a peaceful parade.
“The commission should determine this application impartially, on the evidence and within the law – not according to political pressure from Dublin or non-engagement from the residents’ group.”
In an online post on Thursday night, the Orange district had said: “This is a significant development.
"We have for many years argued for mediation, but this was rejected and instead obstinate refusals to engage in dialogue was rewarded by the Parades Commission, allowing a veto to be exercised by those who refused to engage.
"It is welcome it is recognised that position is no longer sustainable.
"Portadown District has confirmed our readiness to commence the mediation process as a matter of urgency without any preconditions.
"We wish to engage in dialogue and consultation in a respectful manner based upon principles of tolerance and inclusion.
"However we do make clear that mediation cannot be used as a device to obstruct or impede consideration of our upcoming notification.”
Ms Lockhart had said in response: “This is a significant breakthrough.
"For many years, the Parades Commission set its face against mediation and rewarded those who obstinately refused dialogue, by granting them a veto over the peaceful exercise of the fundamental rights of Portadown Orangemen...
“The district has now notified the Commission of a dramatically scaled-down parade.
"It is so peaceful, modest and benign that it is scarcely believable that anyone other than the most sectarian and intolerant could rationally object to it.”
The Drumcree parade has not taken place since 1997, and the long-running dispute over it was reignited this summer when a High Court judge savaged the manner in which the Parades Commission reached its decision to block it.
This led to the resignation of one of the six members of the commission, and calls for the rest to either resign of be sacked – a course of action which the Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant has resisted.