A CONFIDENTIAL document leaked in Belfast last night indicates the Northern Ireland Office had decided that the best policy was to let the Drumcree march go down the Garvaghy Road, if there was no agreement between the opposing factions.
The document, dated June 20th, says there was consensus between the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, security chiefs and the chairman of the Parades Commission, Mr Alistair Graham, that this was the "least worst outcome" in the absence of a pact.
Planning for the proximity talks involving both sides the document said Dr Mowlam proposed "a controlled march on the Garvaghy Road" should be addressed "as the base case for the discussion". Other options such as a ban on the march would not be excluded "provided they were judged to offer the prospect of a realistic outcome
The Northern Ireland Office declined to comment on the document which was leaked to the radio broadcaster, Eamonn Mallie. The contents are likely to anger nationalists over the routing of last Sunday's Orange parade through the nationalist Garvaghy area.
The document says that at the time it was being written the Chief Constable of the RUC, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, had "genuinely" not taken a decision on the parade. His decision was finally revealed on Sunday morning.
Nevertheless the document adds that "the consensus among the key players - the Secretary of State, the Minister of State, the Chief Constable, the GOC (General Officer Commanding the British army in the North), the parades commission chairman - is that, if there is no local accommodation, a controlled parade on the Garvaghy, Road is the least worst outcome
The document was circulated a week before the proximity talks involving Orangemen and Garvaghy Road residents held on June 27th and 28th.
The document indicates the NIO had decided before the proximity talks to try to persuade the two sides to agree to controlled parade on the Garvaghy Road.
The document is signed by Mr Steven Leach, associate director of policing and security at the Northern Ireland Office but it is thought to have been written by the director of policing and security, Mr John M. Steele.
A note at the start of the document signed "JMS" states: "This is the game-plan which the Secretary of State requested. I am sure this is the only way open to us that has any chance of success.
The document said it seemed clear no local accommodation would emerge, mainly because of the hardening of loyalist opinion after the Lurgan killings of two RUC officers.
The document asks: "How do we get the two sides to Hillsborough?" It recommends the invitations should not be issued so far ahead that either side, "particularly the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition", would have time "to devise plausible preconditions which might scupper the whole exercise
The document recommends that "key influencers" be briefed in advance including political and religious leaders and the two morning newspapers in Belfast. It is not clear that this recommendation was acted upon as one of the "key influencers" said last night he was not told about the talks in advance.
The author said that "with luck" it might be established that "all sides are in the territory of finding the lowest common denominator for getting some Orange feet on the Garvaghy Road". One of the objectives proposed is to persuade "McKenna", namely, Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy residents group, "and Sinn Fein" that it was time to "play for the draw".
The main headline on the page one report in yesterday's city edition concerning the Garvaghy Road march incorrectly said that letting the march through was the "best option", according to a confidential document prepared by the Northern Ireland Office. In fact, the document said that letting the march go down Garvaghy Road was the "least worst outcome" in the absence of agreement, as indicated in the text of the document and subhead of the report.