South African lawyer to mediate as Garvaghy crisis looms
BY FERN LANE
Brian Currin, the South African human rights lawyer and former
judge, has agreed to hold `pre-mediation' talks with both the
Garvaghy Road residents and Portadown Orangemen in a further
attempt to head off another Orange Order-orchestrated stand-off
at Drumcree church next month. Currin, who represented many of
those giving evidence to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
in South Africa, is also the joint chairman of the Six-County
Sentence Review Commission.
Residents' leader Breandán Mac Cionnaith told An Phoblacht that
Secretary of State Peter Mandelson suggested the involvement of
Currin some time ago to establish whether further negotiations
between all the parties were likely to be more fruitful than
previous efforts, which were run by Tony Blair's Chief of Staff
Jonathan Powell and Security Minister Adam Ingram. The Prime
Minister has already stated his wish to see an Orange march go
down the Garvaghy Road this year, a statement which effectively
disqualifies the British government from acting as mediators.
``This has been ongoing for some time,'' said Mac Cionnaith, ``and
there is a need for another person - not someone from the British
Government, who have their own agenda - to be involved. Brian
Currin doesn't have any particular axe to grind.''
Currin has reportedly insisted on complete independence and to
this end any talks will be funded by the Joseph Rowntree
Foundation, a research charity, rather than by the British
Government. His spokeman said earlier this week that he is
``distanced from all parties - and that includes any Government''.
Currin had wanted to wait until Wednesday, 7 June, before making
any formal announcement of his involvement but it seems likely
that this latest initiative, which was revealed in The Sunday
Times on 4 June, was leaked by the NIO in its increasing
desperation about the possibility of serious disturbances by
supporters of the Portadown Orangemen. Notorious loyalist Johnny
Adair has already said that he will support any protest if
permission to march is refused, a comment which raises the
sinister possibility of wider UDA activity in the area.
Judge Currin's changes of success appear to be slim, particularly
since the announcement by Portadown Orangemen that the lodge has
applied for a permission to march on 2 July, not 9 July as
originally envisaged, although the application for a march on the
latter date does still stand. This is clearly an attempt to
stretch the security forces to breaking point and gives Orange
Order supporters almost two weeks to ``dig in'' before 12 July,
rather than only four days, and create maximum disorder.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, 7 June, the Garvaghy Road
residents' Coalition said that an arson attack at St John the
Baptist Catholic Church on the Garvaghy Road was definitely
malicious. Smoke and fire damage was caused to the entrance
foyer. ``It's too early to say who was behind this attack, but we
believe a sectarian motive should not be ruled out,'' said a
residents' spokesperson.
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