The Parades Commission decision to prevent the Portadown Orangemen from parading via the nationalist Garvaghy Road after church service at Drumcree on Sunday has led to calls from unionist politicians for the commission to be abolished.
The Ulster Unionist Assembly member, Mr Danny Kennedy, accused the Garvaghy Road residents of hiding behind the "discredited" commission and called on the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, to do away with it.
Anti-agreement unionist, Mr Roger Hutchinson, of the Northern Ireland Unionist Party, said: "Instead of being the solution, the commission is now part of the problem and must be disbanded."
The ruling was welcomed by Sinn Fein.
However, Mr Blair yesterday noted that "considerable gestures of reconciliation and goodwill" had been made by the Portadown District Orange Lodge over recent days.
"I believe they should find an echo in a similar gesture from the residents." He twice met the Orange delegation on Monday and has offered to meet with them again later in the week.
Mr David Jones, spokesman for the Portadown Orangemen, confirmed that the Orange delegation was prepared, under the proposals tabled at recent negotiations, to reverse its policy of not engaging in direct talks with Garvaghy residents if the residents would discuss a march through their area this Sunday. This meeting did not occur when it became clear the Garvaghy residents would not accept a parade this year.
In a statement, the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, welcomed the decision but stressed it was not a solution to all problems currently being faced by Portadown.
"We remain committed to engaging in dialogue with a view to seeking a comprehensive resolution of all those problems which need to be addressed. We believe that everyone should approach such dialogue with a view to creating a society where everyone's rights are respected and where everyone can be treated equally."
The Sinn Fein Assembly member, Ms Dara O'Hagan, said her party defended the right of Orangemen to march, but added that there was no absolute right to march, especially into areas where the Orangemen were unwelcome.
Reacting to the ruling on the Garvaghy Road section of this Sunday's parade, the Orange Order in Co Armagh has decided to hold its annual July 12th procession in Portadown. The march had been originally planned for Killylea, Co Armagh. The decision to relocate it was announced at a demonstration at Drumcree on Monday night attended by over 1,000 Orangemen.
Meanwhile, a leading Orangeman has resigned from the Orange Order's strategy committee, which deals with the parades issue. The Rev William Bingham, the Co Armagh Grand Chaplain, said he was stepping down because of church and other Orange Order commitments.