A SOLUTION to the problem of parades in Northern Ireland must be found within the next six weeks, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Dr Mo Mowlam, said yesterday.
However, Dr Mowlam said neither she nor anybody else would have an overarching" solution, and local agreement had to be found.
"We certainly have to achieve something in the next six weeks. In the end it is different in different areas, and there is no overarching answer I or anybody else can give."
The only real solution was "local accommodation and local negotiations" between people in both communities, she said.
The Lower Ormeau Concerned Community welcomed Dr Mowlam's comments. "We believe that it is important for the Secretary of State to take this a step further and recognise that where local agreement cannot be reached then parades should not go ahead," it said in a statement.
The group has again written to the Orange Order this week asking for discussions on parades on the Ormeau Road in Belfast, but it does not expect to get a reply.
Dr Mowlam this week met leaders of the Orange Order and Apprentice Boys. Last week she saw nationalist residents groups opposed to loyalist parades in their areas.
She said she had not been trying to negotiate an agreement but "listening to understand exactly where they are coming from and what movement there could be around the edges".