Drumcree talks end without deal as legal appeal approaches
Negotiations between the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents have ended without agreement over a contentious march in Portadown. A legal appeal is scheduled for Monday, while police say the situation remains challenging but report no violence or injuries.
Talks aimed at resolving the Drumcree parade dispute in Northern Ireland have ended without agreement, leaving a legal appeal as the next major step. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Bryant hosted representatives of the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents at Hillsborough Castle on the fifth day of the standoff. He said the parties had considered mediation, a march that respected the right to parade but was not held, and a final march followed by no further applications.
The dispute began after the Parades Commission authorised the Orange Order to march along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the first time since 1998. Residents and nationalist protesters have blocked the route, while police have turned back marchers. A residents’ legal challenge, postponed to allow negotiations, will be heard by the Court of Appeal on Monday.
Orange Order legal adviser Jamie Bryson said his side would accept the court’s decision and challenged residents to do likewise. The policing operation has cost more than £3m, according to the Northern Ireland Policing Board. Police described conditions in Portadown as challenging and complex but said there had been no violence and no injuries.
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