The British government helped create the year-long stand-off in Drumcree by sending out conflicting messages about the Parades Commission's ruling on the original march, a US human rights group has found, writes Frank McNally.
Peacewatch Ireland claims that the insistence by the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, after the ruling that a negotiated solution still be found, "undermined the Parades Commission's original decision and conveyed a double message about the gravity and enforceability of that decision".
In a report entitled The Siege That Never Ended the group also criticises the security forces for pursuing "radically different policing strategies for the loyalist and nationalist communities"; and it blames the Church of Ireland for being silent on "the illegal encampment at Drumcree church" until the three Quinn children were killed by a loyalist firebomb in Ballymoney.
A non-denominational, multicultural group, according to the report, Peacewatch has been working since 1994 "to support the pursuit of peace with justice in Ireland".
