Republican News · Thursday 14 November 2002

Parades Commission decision appeases unionists

BY FERN LANE

Sir George Quigley's review of the Parades Commission, published last week by the NIO, has been condemned by nationalists across the Six Counties. The report recommends that the Parades Commission be split into two distinct bodies; the first being a Parades Facilitation Agency which, rather than reaching a firm decision on which marches would be permitted and which would not, would simply have the function of mediating between residents and the loyal orders.

The second element would be a separate three-member Rights Panel which would rule on human rights issues. In this way, argues Sir George, contentious marches could be resolved through "settlement not judgement". However, the Orange Order, which has had a stated policy of refusing to cooperate with the Commission since its inception in 1998, has also consistently refused to meet residents' groups from affected areas.

Equally controversially, the report also advocates a greater role for the PSNI in the marching issue, a recommendation bound to attract huge opposition from nationalist communities. Conversely, David Trimble has declared himself entirely satisfied with the outcome of the review.

Although the report speaks at length about the need for the loyal orders to understand the way in which their organisations and the parades are viewed by the nationalist community, Quigley's recommendations effectively mean the disbandment of the Parades Commission. This is a significant victory for unionists, who complained endlessly on the occasions when it ruled in favour of residents who said they did not want Orange marches, together with all the attendant violence, intimidation and inconvenience, through their areas.

It was as a result of explicit demands from David Trimble and other unionists during the Weston Park talks last year for the Parades Commission to be disbanded that the British government called the review on 27 November, also timed so that Trimble, in trouble with his party, would have something to take to the Ulster Unionist Council - including 120 Orange Order delegates - on 1 December.

The government appointed Sir George Quigley, a man with a solid background in the Ulster establishment, to carry out the review. Quigley was formerly the Chairman of Ulster Bank and Chairman of Shorts in Belfast. Prior to that, Quigley was a member of the Northern Ireland Civil Service; he held a number of important posts, including being permanent secretary for four government departments and was also Chairman of the Civil Service Commission.

Nationalist communities worst affected by Orange parades, such as Portadown and Ormeau Road, have reacted with dismay to the report, the contents of which seem to have entirely vindicated their original opposition to the review. At the time, the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition warned that the government, in order to create "some form of political counter balance" was creating a situation "whereby nationalist minority communities in various parts of the North could again begin to feel the chill winds of the past".

Sinn Féin's Dara O'Hagan said the report appears to be "a dangerous retrograde step.

"Some of its recommendations certainly will make the job of securing a resolution of issues around parades harder and may actually breathe new life into disputes that appeared to be subsiding," she said. "It appears to open the way for arbitrary judgement on what constitutes effective steps by the interested parties in any dispute to resolve it."

A spokesman for the the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition said that, "far from increasing consensus and creating a less contentious atmosphere around the marching issues as per his original brief, we believe that Sir George Quigley has failed in that task and has created the potential to re-ignite the marching issue in Portadown and elsewhere".