THE Orange Order has described a letter sent to 1,500 nationalist residents on the Garvaghy Road as a "sincere and genuine attempt to resolve the dispute over the Drumcree march. Local nationalists issued a qualified welcome for the initiative, but insisted there can be no hope of movement until Orangemen meet them directly.
The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said she was heartened by the move while the Sinn Fein leader, Mr Gerry Adams, said it was a "small step in the right direction". The RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, said the letter represented a "small indication of progress".
The letter was issued by the Co Armagh Grand Orange Lodge, with the approval of the Portadown lodges who march to and from Drumcree. Its contents were largely conciliatory in tone, although crucially, the Orange Order again insisted it would not meet the head of the nationalist grouping, Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, because he had served a period in prison on IRA offences.
"As a matter of principle we cannot be involved in talks with convicted terrorists because of what they have inflicted on our community," the letter stated.
Mr Mac Cionnaith said if real progress was to be achieved, Orangemen must either meet the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, of which he is chief spokesman, or address a public meeting on the Garvaghy Road to put forward their viewpoint. Equally, they could also consider giving the nationalist community "a badly needed breathing space" by rerouting the July parade away from the Garvaghy Road.
Mr Mac Cionnaith said he and fellow Garvaghy Coalition member, Mr Joe Duffy, had been elected in the local elections last month, winning 75 per cent of the nationalist vote in Portadown. Orangemen should not try and ignore them as they were legitimate elected representatives who had the support of the vast majority of nationalists on Garvaghy Road.
Father Eamon Stack of the Garvaghy Coalition yesterday responded by letter to the Armagh Orange Lodge. He said residents welcomed the fact that the Order sought to address all local nationalists. "However, one letter, issued only weeks before the annual Drumcree parade, cannot be a substitute for commencement of proper dialogue," he added.
He urged the two signatories to the letter to address a public meeting of local residents on the issue. "A willingness to accept this offer would be seen as a measure of the Order's sincerity in promoting an era of harmony, mutual respect, equality and justice for all the people of Portadown."
While the two sides clearly remain deadlocked over the issue of face to face meetings, the cite was notable for its conditional at tempt to be accommodating. The Armagh grand master, Mr Denis Watson, and the grand chaplain, the Rev William Bingham, said their letter was a "sincere and genuine attempt to deal with the many misconceptions" surrounding the Drumcree parade.
The Drumcree service was partly to remember those of both communities who died in the Battle of the Somme in 1916, they added. "We see our parade as an outward witness to our sincere belief in the Reformed faith. For that reason we see attacks on our parades as both a denial of civil liberties and an attack on our religion.
"For us, this is as distressing as the disgraceful protest which we unreservedly condemn - outside Harryville chapel," their letter continued.
They said that in the interests of "harmony, mutual respect and reconciliation" the Order had acknowledged nationalist residents' concerns by reducing the number of parades along Garvaghy Road from 10 to one, by only allowing local members to march behind accordion bands playing hymns common to both traditions; by ensuring that the march was well marshalled and that it would take less than five minutes to pass any one given point".
The letter added that the right to march and to protest in a peaceful and dignified manner should not be denied to anyone. The Orange Lodge, in the interests of promoting "harmony and mutual respect among the people of Portadown", invited constructive written responses to the letter.
"It is the sincere hope of the Orange Order that the vast majority of the people of Portadown will work together in a new spirit of tolerance to defeat extremists who want confrontation this summer," Mr Watson and Mr Bingham wrote.
The Northern Secretary said she wanted genuine communication between the two communities and "this, I hope, will be an effort in that direction". She acknowledged that the Orange Order would still not meet the residents coalition because Mr Mac Cionnaith is a member. She described the letter as a "very positive step" and said it was to be welcomed. One possible way out of the current deadlock would be a go between to act as an intermediary between the two sides, she suggested.
Mr Adams said the initiative was a small step in the right direction, but it was important that the "Orange Order understands that the letter cannot be regarded as dialogue". The Workers' Party in Northern Ireland welcomed the move by the Orange Order.
