The leader of the DUP today held the first meeting with nationalist residents at the centre of one of the North's most bitter marching disputes for more than a decade.
Brendan MacCoinnaith said Northern Ireland’s First Minister Peter Robinson appeared open-minded over efforts to resolve the Drumcree impasse.
Today’s talks were held following a peaceful demonstration by Orangemen in Portadown, County Armagh, on Sunday.
In the 1990s there was widespread violence and the loyal order has not been able to walk down the nationalist Garvaghy Road since 1998.
Mr MacCoinnaith said: “This is the first occasion that representatives from our community have actually met with the senior figure from within the DUP at any stage over the last 14, 15 or 16 years.
“He appeared very open-minded to what we were saying, understood the concerns of our community as well.
“I think he demonstrated that he is not going to act as a proxy on behalf of the Orange Order.” He accepted the suggestion that, as far as his Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition was concerned, the matter was solved and added that it was the responsibility of the Parades Commission.
The Orange Order is trenchantly opposed to the commission, and has called for it to be scrapped. Its representatives are to meet Mr Robinson at Stormont Castle near Belfast later today.
Drumcree Portadown District Master for the Orange Order, Darryl Hewitt, said after the meeting: "We had a very positive and interesting meeting with the First Minister. We are very pleased that the First Minister has shown some impetus in this situation.
"He is going to seek an urgent meeting with the new chairman of the Parades Commission (Rena Shepherd) and we look for some feedback from her on that particular meeting."
Mr Robinson said the meetings with the Orange Order and nationalist residents had been "useful".
"I found that there is sufficient of an overlap in their positions to allow a meeting to take place between the two groups.
"I hope that can be arranged, I think both of them are prepared to sit down with the other." He added that both sides would be content that the new chairwoman of the Commission would host the discussions and said he wanted to consider the matter with her later today or tomorrow.
"There was a willingness to meet, provided people were not putting down preconditions," Mr Robinson said.
"I believe that there is an impetus to try to get this resolved, which I think is in the interests not just of the people of Portadown, but the whole of the province."
He said there was an "enthusiasm" to move forward.
"Perhaps we can move towards the kind of shared society we are looking for in Northern Ireland."
PA