The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition has called on nationalists from both sides of the Border to travel to Portadown on the day of the planned Drumcree parade. Its spokesman, Mr an Breanadan Mac Cionnaith, warned that any attempt by Orangemen to march down the Garvaghy Road on July 4th would be resisted "millimetre by millimetre" and urged nationalists to show support for residents by taking part in a march that day from Obins Street to the Garvaghy Road.
He also voiced criticism of the Government for what he said was its failure to support residents "who have been under effective siege since last July".
A total of 81 per cent of Protestants believe that the Orange Order should talk to nationalist residents over contentious marches and three-quarters believe the Order should talk to the Parades Commission, according to a survey carried out for the commission.
About 1,000 people took part in the survey. A total of 57 per cent think parade organisers should take into account the changing religious mix of areas.
However, 59 per cent of all respondents - and 71 per cent of Protestants - view the commission negatively. Only 36 per cent of people believe the body's decisions are fair - almost two-thirds of Protestants feel the decisions aren't fair, though 56 per cent of Catholics believe they are. Two-thirds of the population believe there is political interference in the Commission's work.
The decision to reroute the Drumcree parade last year was seen as right by 42 per cent, and wrong by 38 per cent.
Senior Orangemen yesterday met the Church of Ireland primate, Archbishop Robin Eames. The Order's executive officer, Mr George Patton, said there had been an exchange of views on Drumcree and that any resolution of the issue was a question of civil liberties.
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition has dismissed a proposal from the Order that it would fully involve itself in a civic forum for the town if the right to march was re-established.
Participating in a forum would almost certainly mean entering dialogue with representatives from the residents' coalition, including its spokesman, Mr Mac Cionnaith, whom the Order has previously refused to meet.
In an interview in the News Letter, Portadown Orangemen said they had sent their proposal to the British Prime Minister. "Tony Blair knows where we stand and he knows we are fully committed to playing a full role in civic society but we cannot do so while our civil rights are denied us," one Orangeman said. Orangemen were enthusiastic about a forum to deal with local issues, but they said they were sceptical about the part the Garvaghy residents would play. "People should be asking not what members of the Orange Order could bring to such a forum - brethren in the town have spent their lives working for the good of all its people. What they should be asking is what Mr Mac Cionnaith would be prepared to do for Portadown."
Mr Mac Cionnaith said there was nothing new in the Orange Order's proposal. "It has been their position for many years that if they get marching down the Garvaghy Road, they will talk to anybody. It's totally pointless because if the march goes ahead, what is there to talk about?"
A 48-hour prayer vigil will be held in St Anne's Church of Ireland Catherdal in Belfast on the weekend of the Drumcree parade. A special prayer has been written for the occasion.