With the latest victim of sectarian violence in Portadown due to be buried this afternoon, prospects for resolving the dispute over the Drumcree church parade seem remote.
Loyalist extremists were blamed for the killing of Mrs Elizabeth O'Neill (59), who died after a pipe-bomb was thrown through a window of her home on the Corcrain estate early on Saturday. She will be buried today after a funeral service at the Church of Ireland Seagoe Parish Church.
The killing was widely condemned and the North's First Minister-designate described it as an attempt to derail attempts at resolving the Drumcree dispute. Mr Trimble cancelled a planned trip to Israel because of the killing.
Proximity-style talks on Drumcree took place in Belfast at the weekend, chaired by Mr Frank Blair, director of the Scottish branch of the industrial mediation service ACAS. Nationalist and Orange representatives were present, but not in the same room.
The chairman presented a draft discussion document to the two sides. This envisaged the Drumcree parade following its traditional return route from the church to the town along the Garvaghy Road this year. Over the subsequent 12-month period, a centre to commemorate the cultural heritage of the Orange Order would be established in a non-contentious area in Portadown.
In July 2000, the Orangemen, after the traditional church service, would march to the cultural heritage centre for a formal inauguration ceremony. They would return to the town centre by the outward route and not, as in past years, the Garvaghy Road. This route would be followed in all future years and there would be no further Orange parades on the Garvaghy Road. The draft proposal included a cash injection of at least £15 million to remedy social deprivation in Portadown.
Garvaghy Road representatives said that they were prepared to "consider" the plan, but Orangemen rejected it outright. As a response to the draft, the Portadown District of the Orange Order simply submitted details of the traditional route of the Drumcree parade, including the Garvaghy Road as part of return journey to the town centre. The Orangemen still want the 1998 parade to be completed. They also said that discussion of any funding initiative would be subject to a resolution of the parade dispute.
Mr Blair was sharply criticised in a statement from Portadown Orange District. The statement accused him of a "complete bias" against the Orange position.
A rally planned for next Sunday to give nationalists from other areas a chance to show solidarity with the Garvaghy Road residents is likely to be cancelled because of fears for the safety of nationalists travelling to Portadown.
Tension is likely to increase this month over a planned Orange march from Derry to Portadown, starting on June 27th and ending at Drumcree church in time for the annual July 4th parade. Badges for the march, known as "The Long Walk", are already being sold to sympathisers. It is being unofficially described as an "Orange Burntollet", a reference to the civil rights march 30 years ago which was attacked by loyalist extremists.
Several hundred Orangemen attended morning service at Drumcree yesterday. Afterwards they paraded to the police line blocking their path to the Garvaghy Road. A protest was lodged with the senior officer on duty before the Orangemen marched back to Drumcree church.