Talks aimed at breaking the deadlock over the controversial Drumcree parade will continue on Wednesday with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant, as nationalist protesters say mediation with unionists is “dead in the water.”
The nationalist Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition has also launched a new legal challenge to reinstate the nearly 30-year ban on the Orange Order marching down their road, arguing that the Parades Commission “materially misdirected itself.”
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, the group’s leader, said his goal was “no parade, just no parade. That is what our community wants, what nearly 4,000 people living in our community want … that’s our mandate.”
After meeting Bryant on Tuesday, he told residents at the local pastoral centre that mediation was “dead in the water.”
Members of the Portadown Orange Order left Drumcree church, the parade’s starting point, overnight on Tuesday for the first time since the dispute over their march erupted on Sunday morning.
They made another attempt to walk the route down the nationalist Garvaghy Road just after 10pm on Tuesday night, accompanied by DUP MP Carla Lockhart, and returned to the church on Wednesday morning, vowing to stay there until police allow them to complete the march.
Nigel Dawson, the Orange Order’s Portadown district master, said he had “constructive” talks with the Northern Ireland secretary on Tuesday night about the possibility of a mediator. “We look forward to the law being applied to the parade,” he added.
The two groups will hold further talks with Bryant on Wednesday, and the Garvaghy Road court hearing is scheduled for Friday, but there is little sign of a breakthrough.
At a special sitting on Saturday, the high court heard that the documentation behind the decision to allow the parade showed past risk assessments of disorder related to parade requests, but none looking to the future.
Under a form heading listing any risk of public disorder or property damage, the commission’s information was “directed to the past,” their barrister, Denise Kiley KC, told the judge. “Nowhere do we see any assessment of future risk,” she said, adding that it was “not clear who had provided this template” to the Parades Commission.
Efforts to end the dispute, which has deepened sectarian divisions in Northern Ireland, also took place in Dublin, where Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald and Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill met Micheál Martin and Simon Harris, the leader and deputy leader of the Irish government.
Martin has called the Parades Commission’s decision to allow the parade down Garvaghy Road for the first time in almost 30 years “incomprehensible and wrong.”
McDonald said people were “gobsmacked” by the decision, as it had “the potential to drag that community and society back to very bad and very bleak days.”
O’Neill has faced criticism from unionists after she and senior colleagues were among a large crowd that blockaded the road in the predominantly nationalist Garvaghy Road area on Sunday to stop the parade from passing.
Under parading laws in Northern Ireland, protests must be notified to and approved by the Parades Commission adjudication body, and the gathering at the head of Garvaghy Road, which continues on Wednesday, has not yet been notified.However, police have not tried to break up the protest, fearing it could spark violence. Bertie Ahern, the former taoiseach and co-architect of the 1998 peace deal that led republicans and loyalists to lay down their arms after 30 years of violence, warned of the dangers of returning to the “tribal past.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs regarding the statement that mediation over the Drumcree parade is dead in the water
What is the Drumcree parade
It is an annual parade by the Orange Order in Portadown Northern Ireland It has been the center of a major dispute because the route passes through a nationalist area
What does dead in the water mean
It means a plan or process has failed completely and has no chance of succeeding
Who are the Nationalists in this context
They are mostly members of the Catholic community in Northern Ireland who want a united Ireland They oppose the parade going down the Garvaghy Road
Who are the Orangemen
They are members of the Orange Order a Protestant fraternal organization They want to march their traditional route
Why did Nationalists say mediation is dead
They said it because they felt the talks were not fair or honest They believed the Orange Order was not willing to compromise
What is mediation
Mediation is when a neutral third party helps two sides talk and reach an agreement
Who was trying to mediate
The British government and the Northern Ireland Parades Commission have tried to help both sides talk
Why is the parade so important
For Orangemen it is a celebration of their culture and history For Nationalists it is seen as a sign of disrespect and domination
What is the Garvaghy Road
It is a road in Portadown The parade wants to go down it but the residents there are mostly Nationalist and oppose it
Has the parade caused violence before
Yes In 1998 there was a major standoff and violence Three young boys were killed in a firebomb attack linked to the dispute
What is the Parades Commission
It is a group that decides whether parades can go ahead and under what rules It was set up in 1997
Why do Nationalists not trust the mediation
They believe the government and the Commission favor the Orangemen They also feel their voices are not being heard
What do Orangemen say about the mediation
They often say they have the right to march their traditional route They believe Nationalists are trying to stop their culture
Can the parade be banned
Yes The Parades Commission can ban a parade or change its route if it thinks it will
