THE RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, firmly defended his decision to allow the Orange parade down the nationalist Garvaghy Road yesterday. Had the parade not gone ahead lives could have been lost, he said.
He called for a special British government commission to examine the issue of contentious marches, and said he was confident the Orange Order and the Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, would co-operate to ensure there was not a "Drumcree Mark Ill" next year.
Defending his decision shortly after the parade went through yesterday, he said. "We had reached the stage where potentially tens of thousands of Orangemen stood to face thousands of policemen and soldiers. The risk to life in those circumstances, accidental or otherwise, was too great to take.
"Accordingly, I gave directions that the parade was to go down the Garvaghy Road. In any operational situation which deteriorates day by day, we assess it day by day, and make decisions accordingly.
"For over a year, since Drumcree last year, all sorts of people including the RUC have attempted to find a resolution to this problem without success. And when the four church leaders this morning, despite their outstanding efforts, also failed to reach an accommodation, I reached the point where the potential risk to life had become so great that it was necessary to put the parade down the Garvaghy Road.
"That has been done in an excellent policing operation with an extremely low level of violence. And it has been done in circumstances where there was no way of finding an accommodation between two clearly conflicting outlooks."
The Deputy Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, said the whole event had been "hijacked by most sinister elements". At first he would not elaborate but later added. "There was a threat from paramilitaries right across the board, and that had to be averted at all costs.
"There are evil people determined to drive this province right over the brink and that, quite frankly, was the point that we had reached. We were not losing control but we had reached the point where there was a really serious threat to life.
Sir Hugh said his senior RUC colleagues supported him in his original decision to reroute the Orange parade, and also in yesterday's decision. He said no political pressure had been exerted on him to make his decision.
"Just in case anybody is in any doubt, and they want somebody to blame, as somebody has been doing up to now, this was my decision, and I stand over it. And if somebody wants to blame any body, they blame me.
"I implore the public on both sides for calm. I want the rest of the Twelfth to run relatively happily and totally peacefully."
He would not reveal whether he would allow Orangemen to parade along the nationalist lower Ormeau Road in Belfast today.
Asked would the Orangemen not now exercise the same power on the Ormeau Road, and in other areas, he replied. "The Orange Order is not comprised of hoods and gougers that have plagued this province over the past five days.
"I think that the Orange Order has some very good people in it who are saying, this cannot go on. That's what I think they are saying, and I think they will assist with an accommodation next year. I have no doubt about that."
He also denied that the Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, had faced down the RUC.
"I want the government to look into the issue, as I have no doubt they will, of how parades and demonstrations are to run in Northern Ireland, and how they can be reconciled between the two sides, because I have got to say I am sick, and so are my colleagues, sick to death, of being stuck in the middle of a non winnable situation. This must be the subject of some sort of government commission.
He denied that this was tantamount to accusing the British government and the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, of abdicating responsibilities on parades.
Sir Hugh praised "in the highest possible terms" the RUC and the British army for the "superb" job they had carried out since Sunday.
He condemned the "vicious intimidation" of his officers at Drumcree, and of their families in their homes.
While it was clear from around 11 a.m. yesterday that the march was to proceed, Sir Hugh said he made the decision at about 11.45 a.m. Asked about this apparent contradiction, he said that before he made his decision, he had a range of options.
He hoped there would not be a republican backlash.
He did not regret his original decision to ban the Orange parade last Sunday. "But I would be a fool not to review a decision once the situation became worse than we had originally anticipated."
Asked had he not set a precedent that "might was right" he said there were precedents already set in similar civil disturbance situations in England.
"You cannot in a democracy remotely consider using lethal firearms against a parade of Orangemen", he said.
"We had reached a stage where there would have been a sustained attack on police lines in circumstances where injury could have been occasioned and the residents of Garvaghy estate could have been at risk.
The scenario on Sunday was that had he then allowed the Orange parade he would have faced opposition from Garvaghy residents reinforced by elements from outside. The decision was correct at the time. Yesterday's decision was also correct because of the changing circumstances.
Sir Hugh said there was no political pressure on him to take his decision either from Northern Ireland, Westminster or Dublin.