AWHILE members of the Royal Black Institution have held a preliminary meeting with members of the Bellaghy Concerned Residents about arrangements for a planned parade through the Co Derry village on August 31st, no contacts are believed to have been established yet in other areas where parades are due.
The Black Institution Chapter in Ballynafeigh, Belfast, is to meet before the end of the week to discuss the RUC's rerouting of its march next Sunday away from the lower Ormeau district.
Mr Bill Logan, grand registrar of the Royal Black Institution, said some form of protest against the rerouting would be considered. He indicated that while the institution might be willing to consider having discussions with residents, a meeting with the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community organisation was unlikely.
The brief meeting at Bellaghy on Tuesday evening between four Black Institution representatives and members of the residents group is understood to have consisted of an exchange of position, papers. The two sides are to meet again tomorrow night.
The meeting was part of the agreement which ended an 18 hour standoff in Bellaghy on August 12th.
Around 40,000 Blackmen will parade on August 31st at various locations across Northern Ireland. There is a possibility of nationalist protests in several areas, including Newry, Co Down, where conciliation talks have not yet taken place.
The Sinn Fein elected representative for Mid Ulster, Mr Francie Molloy, last night welcomed the start of negotiations at Bellaghy, and said it indicated both groups were aware of the need for agreement around the issue of contentious parades.
It was a positive start, he said, but it would be unhelpful for politicians to speculate continuously on these discussions while they were still in their infant