WITH imminent decisions facing the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, about the July 6th Drumcree march and other Orange parades, it was announced last night that the Taoiseach Mr Ahern, will have his first meeting with the British Prime Minister in London next Thursday afternoon.
The Downing street meeting was given added urgency with the collapse last night of the so-called "proximity" talks at which Dr Mowlam and her officials had tried to broker a compromise between Orangemen and nationalist residents of Garvaghy Road who were kept in separate rooms about 50 yards apart at Hillsborough Castle in Co Down.
The Taoiseach will also have a brief meeting with Dr Mowlam on the margins of the biennial conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Belfast next Tuesday morning.
After eight hours of negotiations, the Hillsborough talks were finally called off at 6.30 p.m. and the two sides left without, apparently, having come any closer to an accommodation.
But Dr Mowlam said last night the collapse of the talks was not the end of her efforts to find a resolution and bilateral talks would continue next week.
She said the talks had provided an opportunity to "go over the issues" and insisted that there had been no "breakdown".
There appeared almost no hopeful sign of avoiding major confrontation over the Orange marches issues.
There was no indication from Dr Mowlam last night about when a decision would be made on whether or not to allow the march down Garvaghy Road in Portadown, from Drumcree Church.
It is believed a decision will be withheld until closer to the proposed demonstration on Sunday week, July 6th.
The actual decision on whether to allow it to take place rests with the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, who was at Hillsborough Castle yesterday but made no comment later. On his advice, the Secretary of State will announce whether the march will be allowed to proceed or if it will be blocked.
One somewhat encouraging development yesterday was a message of support for the official Orange delegation from the leader of dissident Orangemen who have formed the Spirit of Drumcree group. Its spokesman, Mr Joel Patton, said his group accepted the Orange negotiators' "good faith".
It is becoming clearer by the day that potential flashpoints are emerging throughout the North over the next month.
The first of these takes place tonight in west Belfast when Orangemen propose to march to Whiterock Orange Lodge, near nationalist Ballymurphy. Local republicans are proposing a counter-demonstration. There were unconfirmed reports yesterday that the British army had already begun moving extra troops and heavy lifting equipment into Ebrington Barracks, on the outskirts of Derry, in preparation for confrontation in the north-west, where several controversial parades are planned.
In Dublin, a Government spokesman said Mr Ahern and Mr Blair had a lengthy discussion on the "whole gamut of issues" relating to Northern Ireland in a half-hour telephone conversation yesterday afternoon.