THE UK Unionist leader, Mr Robert McCartney, has again urged Portadown Orangemen to take the "high moral ground" and waive their right to parade down Garvaghy Road tomorrow, but only in the event of the march being declared lawful. His proposal was rejected by the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader, Mr David Trimble.
Mr McCartney said his proposal, if accepted, would be for the greater good of the Orange Order and the Union, and would additionally undermine what he believed were republican plans to foment trouble over Drumcree. Moreover, it would copper fasten the future of the Orange march.
Mr McCartney restated his proposal as other church, business and political leaders, including the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams, called for calm and restraint in the coming days.
The UK Unionist leader said that if the Orange parade were forced down the Garvaghy Road it could lead to death and destruction which could affect the entire community, and play into the hands of Sinn Fein and the IRA.
He believed the best course of action for the Orangemen was to temporarily forgo their right to march down Garvaghy Road if the Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, first declared their right to parade. The Orangemen in such an eventuality, he suggested, would postpone their parade until a time of their own choosing.
"I believe by this method they will have secured the future of the parade." They will have demonstrated to the British government that they are on the moral high ground, that they are not merely seeking to enforce a right come what may," he told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme.
"They will have bitterly disappointed the IRA and Sinn Fein, and will have created a tremendous well of goodwill," he added.
Mr McCartney said that such decision would also be tactically correct. "Even a tenth-rate general knows there are two things never to do. One, never fight a battle on the ground of your opponent's choosing, and Sinn Fein and the IRA have chosen the ground, and the date.
"And the second thing you never do is confirm to your opponent that your reaction is predictable, because then he has you."
Mr Trimble said the parade should go ahead and people should stop grasping for "easy options" to solve the problem. "Re-routing the march is giving way to violence," he insisted.
"It's this business of looking for easy ways out over the past 25 years that has left the peaceful, law-abiding majority intensely frustrated and intensely angry. Continuing to give in to the threat of violence from nationalist terrorists is not going to make life easier. It is going to make life more difficult," Mr Trimble said.
Mr Joel Patton, of the Spirit of Drumcree group, also rejected Mr McCartney's suggestion. Portadown Orangemen must march down Garvaghy Road, he added, notwithstanding Mr McCartney's argument that the trouble that might arise from the parade being forced down the road could damage the Union.
The former DUP MP for Mid-Ulster, the Rev William McCrea, also laid the march must proceed down Garvaghy Road. "A stand against anarchy and violent republicanism must be taken and now is the time to do so," he said.
Mr Adams called for calm in the lead-up to the Drumcree parade and urged the British government to "do what is right by supporting the right of Garvaghy Road residents to equality of treatment".
He added: "Host communities, which find particular marches objectionable, have the right to with-hold their consent and to have their rights respected." " The British government has a responsibility to uphold those rights."
Mr Adams called on the unionist and Orange leaderships to "acknowledge the widespread concern which exists concerning this march and to use their influence to encourage the loyal institutions to step back from confrontation".
The Presbyterian Moderator, the Rev Dr Sam Hutchinson, made a similar appeal to the Orange Order and the Garvaghy Group, urging compromise from both sides,
"The right to march and protest are legitimate in a democratic society, but even at this eleventh hour I ask both sides to again consider whether the exercise of their rights is the wise and proper option," he added.
"For one side or the other to waive their rights would immediately defuse this tense situation and the mood of gloom accompanying it. I would see such a gesture as a temporary respite and also as a responsible and positive step towards beginning a new dimension of bridge-building," Dr Hutchinson said.
The President of the Methodist Church in Ireland, the Rev Dr Norman Taggart, called on the two sides to exercise restraint and observe the law in the coming days.
The G7 group of business organisations in Northern Ireland said nothing must happen this summer which would harm people's livelihoods or damage Northern Ireland's potential for economic growth and development.
G7 which comprises seven bodies, including the Confederation of British Industry in the North, the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, ICTU, and the Institute of Directors, warned that "neither community will gain if we blow our economic chances".
"Northern Ireland plc owes it to itself to "play it sensibly" and gear up to win the battle for jobs, a better standard of living and a better quality of life," it said in a statement.
"It may well be that in the course of this weekend and beyond the authorities, in the absence of local agreement, will have to take decisions which are unwelcome to one side or the other. It will be vital that those decisions should, however reluctantly, be accepted," the G7 group added.
The Workers' Party in Northern Ireland said the proposal that Orangemen postpone the parade was a "plausible and sensible solution to the parades impasse".
Ms Patricia McKenna, the Green MEP, said she will attend the Drumcree parade as an observer. She urged the RUC not to use plastic bullets at Drumcree or elsewhere in Northern Ireland. If plastic bullets were used she would raise the issue in the European Parliament.
