Countdown to Drumcree 3
Peader Whelan describes how the Orange Order's refusal to talk is
pushing the Six Counties towards a repeat of last summer
``We will not be talking to anyone ever, and I mean anyone. I will
be going into Drumcree Church with Portadown District and I will
be coming out of church and going down the Garvaghy Road and
that's it''.
These words were uttered by Portadown Orange Grand Master Harold
Gracey in the past week, a week that has set the scene for
Drumcree 3. It is clear from the intent of Gracey's remarks that
the Orange Order has no regard for the wishes or feelings of the
people through whose area the Orange Order wants to march.
The residents of the Garvaghy Road had written to the Orange
Order asking for ``breathing space'' for their community. A simple
request, made in light of the recent killing of local man Robert
Hamill who was kicked to death by a loyalist mob; but the
Orangemen chose to ignore it and filed for their parade to take
its usual route from Portadown Town centre along the Corcrain
Road to Drumcree and back to their Hall in Carlton Street through
the predominantly nationalist estates on the Garvaghy Road.
In response the Garvaghy Road Residents Association filed for a
street carnival for Sunday 6 July to coincide with the Orange
march.
d in anticipation of trouble resulting from a Drumcree 3
stand-off the Bogside Residents Group (BRG) has filed for marches
in Derry City every day from 6 to 12 July. ``This is an attempt to
give leadership in the eventuality that the Orange march is
forced down the Garvaghy Road,'' said BRG spokesperson Donncha Mac
Niallais.
In the meantime the Orange Order in Derry confirmed on Thursday
12 June that it intends holding its main County Derry parade
through Derry City and along the City Walls overlooking the
Bogside, a move that has further angered local residents.
``In light of events that occurred in the city last summer people
are now asking why the Orange Order has chosen Derry to be a
marching ground just days after Drumcree,'' said MacNiallais.
The BRG wanted the parades issue resolved through dialogue but
the Orange Orders were intent on ignoring the requests of the
residents groups, he added.
According to the views of many nationalists the Orange Order
believes it doesn't have to negotiate because the British
government buckled under pressure last year and will do the same
this year.
If this view is accurate then it bodes ill for the attempts being
made by the present Direct Ruler Marjorie Mowlam whose shuttle
diplomacy has until now not paid off.
At a recent meeting on the Ormeau Road with Orange Order chiefs
and spokespersons for the Loyalist pressure group ORDER, Mowlam
received a frosty reception.
d just hours after Mowlam met with Portadown Orangemen and the
Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition the Orangemen reiterated their
refusal to negotiate while Breandan MacCionnaith stressed that
there could be ``no resolution without negotiations''.
In a further development Michael Goodman of the Lower Ormeau
Concerned Community handed in a letter to British Prime Minister
Tony Blair to ask for his support for ``the rerouting of Orange
marches and other loyalist parades away from our community''.
The letter handed in at Downing Street on Friday 13 June stated,
``while we agree with all those who have said that dialogue and
compromise are the way forward we would like to point out that we
have tried consistently since 1992 to open dialogue with the
Orange Order, however we have just as consistently met with a
refusal to discuss the issue''.
The letter repeated the view that the Orange Order will not
discuss the issue, believing instead that the British government
will capitulate to their threats.
So as Alistair Graham, chair of the Parades Commission, announced
on Tuesday 18 June that he didn't believe there would be
agreement in Portadown this summer and that the ``Chief Constable
and Secretary of State are going to have to take difficult
decisions'', he was only telling us what we already knew - that
the last British government's attempt to wash its hands of its
responsibility for the marches was always going to fall flat on
its face because the Orange Order had no intention of
compromising.
Gerry Adams, calling for an ``intimidation free summer'', said that
the ``nationalist people of Garvaghy Road and Lower Ormeau Road
and other areas threatened with Orange marches are entitled to
plan their summer months free from the fear that Orange marches
bring to their areas''. He placed the onus on the Orange Order to
``unilaterally take an initiative which will ease the pressure on
nationalist areas''.
``There is no substitute for face to face discussions,'' Adams
said.
Bellaghy march on Sunday
The Orange Order have applied to march through Bellaghy this
Sunday 22 June. As we went to print it was unclear exactly which
part of the town the Order would be allowed to pass through. Sinn
Féin sources suggested that they would be restricted to the
town's commercial district. Local residents have applied for a
counter protest, and have been restricted to the nationalist part
of the town. Nationalists were set to meet with Dr Majorie Mowlam
during the week to discuss the marching issue, but the meeting
was cancelled.
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