Orangemen are invited down an untraditional route to the Aras

It may not do anything to alleviate the crisis at Drumcree but Orangemen will walk a decidedly untraditional route tonight when they converge on Aras an Uachtarain for a pre-Twelfth of July "party" hosted by the President, Mrs McAleese.

In fact, a spokeswoman for the President was insistent yesterday that the event would be a "reception rather than a party". Nevertheless the Orangemen, all from the Republic, will be treated to two hours of music and entertainment in the State rooms of the Aras, and wine will be served.

The entertainment, which begins at 7 p.m., includes a face-to-face meeting of the lambeg drum and the bodhran. There is no danger of a tense stand-off, however, as both instruments will be played by A Different Drum, a cross-community group from Derry.

The Ulster Harp Orchestra and fiddler Frankie Gavin also feature, while Frank McGuinness will read from his play, Observe The Sons Of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme.

The private reception, thought to be the first accorded to Orangemen by an Irish President, is part of Mrs McAleese's declared bridgebuilding policy. Indeed, any of her guests unaware of Dublin's role in the Tour de France this weekend may feel the policy has already gone too far, with temporary pedestrian bridges erected on every second street.

The prospect of the sons of Ulster marching into a monster traffic jam en route to the Phoenix Park has not been discounted. However, the Aras has consulted with the Garda and expects the event to be unaffected by the rerouteing arrangements.

While lodges from the Republic's three Ulster counties, as well as Cos Dublin, Wicklow and Cork, will be represented, the spokeswoman said Orangemen would account for only about half of the 130 guests. The rest would be "people interested in the shared aspects of British-Irish culture, including the Aras itself, which is a repository of British history and culture".

The event takes place in the shadow of Portadown but the crisis has had no immediate impact, according to the Aras. "Of the people invited, we only had four regrets, and they were all polite ones."

There will be no bonfires, contrary to what the spokeswoman says was a misinterpretation of Mrs McAleese's intentions when she first announced the idea of the celebration. And in what appears to have been an equally deliberate decision, there will be no politicians either.