Nationalists have condemned recommendations made in a controversial report of the Parades Commission, calling it a cave-in to unionist demands.
The review was called last year by the British government at the request of unionists, who complained that the commission was biased in favour of nationalists who contest a number of controversial Orange marches.
The report's main recommendation is the establishment of a Parades Facilitation Agency to allow for talks between marchers and protesters. A separate three-member Rights Panel would be set up to rule on human rights issues.
The SDLP, Sinn Féin and nationalist community groups have reacted angrily to the recommendations while the Ulster Unionist leader David Trimble has welcomed the report saying it addresses his party's concerns.
The British government established the commission to adjudicate on disputed marches in the wake of widespread violence caused by the annual Orange parade at Drumcree in Portadown, Co Armagh.
The Orange Order has refused to co-operate with the Commission since it's creation in 1998.
Northern Ireland Secretary Paul Murphy said no changes to the present commission would be introduced until the 2004 marching season.
The leader of the SDLP, Mark Durkan was critical of the report's recommendations saying they were "totally unacceptable, ill-conceived and unworkable".
"Disbanding the Parades Commission and putting in place new and untested bodies will only re-ignite controversy over parades just when things were settling down on this difficult issue," he said.
"The SDLP see no value and a lot of risk in the establishment of a Rights Panel to replace the current Parades Commission."
Sinn Féin's Dara O'Hagan said the report appears to be a dangerous retrograde step."
"Some of its recommendations certainly will make the job of securing a resolution of issues around parades harder and may actually breathe new life into disputes that appeared to be subsiding," she said.
"It appears to open the way for arbitrary judgment on what constitutes effective steps by the interested parties in any dispute to resolve it."
The Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, which is opposed to the Orange Order marching through its area following serious violence at successive Orange Order marches, said the review advocated a greater role for the police in the marching issue.
"Far from increasing consensus and creating a less contentious atmosphere around the marching issues as per his original brief, we believe that Sir George Quigley has failed in that task and has created the potential to re-ignite the marching issue in Portadown and elsewhere," said a spokesman.
Ulster Unionist David Trimble said Sir George had addressed his party's concerns that it was wrong to combine a mediation and adjudication role in one body.
"He has also addressed the process and issues with regard to how the Parades Commission operates," he added. PA