A former legal adviser to the Ulster Unionist leader and First Minister has urged the Orange Order to enter discussions with the Parades Commission and nationalist residents' groups.
Addressing a closed conference on Orange parades at the weekend, Mr Austen Morgan, a high-ranking barrister who advised Mr David Trimble during a series of political negotiations, said the order would have to "take an intelligent response to a very difficult situation" if the Drumcree marching dispute was to be resolved satisfactorily.
Mr Morgan was responsible for a 100-page report on the Orange Order's legal position with regard to banned parades two years ago. The report was commissioned by the then UUP MP for West Tyrone and Orange Order member, Mr William Thompson.
Mr Thompson declined to comment yesterday other than to stress that the issue was complex.
"There are a number of people in the Ulster Unionist Party who would like to see the order engaging in direct dialogue with both residents and the Parades Commission, but the majority would not be in favour of that," he told The Irish Times.
