Why won't they talk?
By Pádraig MacDabhaid
This is the question which is being asked of the Orange Order with
the release of the Parades Commission's annual report on Thursday 29
April and the decision by David Trimble to hold face to face talks
with members of the Garvaghy Road Residents group.
Alistair Graham, the Chairman of the Parades Commission, expressed
his belief that the continued refusal of the Orange Order to talk to
the Garvaghy Road residents and its refusal to recognise the Parades
Commission made it likely that the Order's Drumcree march will be
banned.
Graham explained that change had taken place in the Six Counties: ``We
now have Sinn Féin and the Ulster Unionists getting together to sort
out their differences, so why can't these two sides get together to
try to find a solution?''
Graham also pointed to a survey of 1,000 people which showed that 83%
of people wanted the Orange Order to talk to the Parades Commission,
and he used this opportunity to call on the Order to help find a way
through the problem of parades.
Breandan MacCionnaith, Garvaghy Road residents' spokesperson, said
that he believed the actions of the Orange Order had made a mockery
of the Parades Commission through their illegal marches and breaches
of parade conditions.
``Almost every parade that has taken place in Portadown since last
July has either been illegal or has broken restrictions placed on
them by the commission'', McCionnaith said. He was also very critical
of the fact that the commission has not even acknowledged that their
restrictions have been broken. ``The people of the Garvaghy Road want
to know when the British and Irish governments are going to implement
the Good Friday agreement and allow them to live free of sectarian
intimidation and harassment,'' he added.
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