The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, has launched a pre-Christmas initiative to try to break the worsening deadlock over Drumcree and ease the tensions in Portadown. As anxieties mount in Portadown ahead of a series of Orange Order and loyalist rallies in the town in support of the Drumcree standoff, Mr Blair has invited Portadown Orangemen and local nationalist representatives to engage in a fresh round of proximity talks.
Downing Street last night confirmed that Mr Blair was seeking to bring the sides into new proximity negotiations, preferably this Wednesday. As in previous such talks they would be brokered by Mr Blair's chief of staff, Mr Jonathan Powell.
Orangemen last night welcomed the initiative, although Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, spokesman for the Garvaghy residents group, said "as a matter of balance" he first wanted a meeting with Mr Blair before entering proximity talks.
Mr Denis Watson, the Co Armagh Orange Grand Master, said he hoped there could be a resolution of the issue. "We will go into the talks in a responsible manner, as we have done from day one, and hopefully we will see a just and lasting solution to the problem," he added.
Mr Mac Cionnaith, however, said that before such talks Mr Blair should meet the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition. He said Mr Blair had met the Orangemen last month and should now "balance" the situation with a meeting with the coalition. He said his group was predisposed to fresh proximity talks but said people should be "realistic" about what they could achieve in the short term. With a massive Orange rally planned for Portadown next Saturday and a series of demonstrations scheduled over Christmas it was difficult to see how proximity talks could resolve the dispute. A similar initiative last July failed to achieve any breakthrough in the dispute. Members of the Parachute Regiment will be on duty for this weekend's demonstration by the Orange Order in Portadown. The regiment, which is based at Drumadd barracks in Armagh, arrived in Northern Ireland only a few days ago. It will be part of the massive security operation designed to prevent violence in Portadown.
Already tension is rising in the town. The numbers taking part in the protest at Drumcree has been growing steadily. Last Thursday an estimated 1,000 people gathered at the church. On recent nights there also has been a series of disturbances. A number of people were injured when protesters threw stones and fireworks at police. It is believed the security operation at Drumcree will be a policy of containment. It will be designed to prevent any incursions into the Garvaghy Road area by the Orangemen, who have said they intend to walk down the road before the end of the year. It is expected that British Army engineers will again erect wire fences in the fields close to a water-filled trench dug by the army last July, and that a metal barrier will be placed across the road leading to the nationalist area.
As well as the security measures at Drumcree, large numbers of police and army will be deployed along the parade route through Portadown. Security chiefs, obviously concerned at the possibility of violence next Saturday, will also have re-enforcements available at the Mahon camp in Portadown.