THE DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, is involved in negotiations to resolve a dispute over Orange parades in Dunloy, Co Antrim, which could lead to the end of protests outside a Catholic church in Ballymena.
Loyalists have staged a picket outside Our Lady's Church at Harryville for the past four months in protest at nationalists blocking Orange marches in Dunloy last year.
They are planning to hold a band parade in Harryville next weekend. However, it is understood that this would be cancelled If the RUC agreed the Dunloy march could proceed.
Residents of the village have repeatedly blocked the parade. Dr Paisley met the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, yesterday to discuss the situation.
He described the meeting as "frank and constructive". He said he knew nothing about links between the Orange march and the Harryville parade. However, he added that the Order had developed a plan to resolve the dispute in Dunloy.
Dr Paisley will put the proposals to the Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, on Tuesday and will be in indirect contact with Dunloy residents on Monday.
He said there was plenty of goodwill among Protestants to resolve the matter and the Orange Order believed that progress was being made.
An SDLP spokesman, Mr Sean Farren, welcomed the development but said he had no knowledge of the details of the plan. If the dispute in Dunloy was resolved it would set an important precedent for conflicts over marches in other parts of the North he added.
The North report on parades was published on Thursday. It recommended appointing a new commission to rule on controversial marches. The British government has declined to immediately implement the proposal and he opted for a consultation period.
Meanwhile the Orange Order has confirmed that it plans once again to march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh, this year.
Although the parade is still six months way, there is growing fear of conflict because of nationalist objections. For the past two years, Orangemen at Drumcree Church have been involved in a violent stand off with the RUC before eventually being allowed down the Garvaghy Road.
The Orange Order's Assistant Grand Master, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, yesterday said the RUC should not ban the march. "For the sake of 15 minutes, and to avoid all the problems of last year, can we not have a little bit of respect and tolerance for a culture, tradition and identity?"
Orange marches down the Garvaghy Road had been reduced from seven to one. "Orangemen feel they are down to the wire. If they accept they cannot pass down the Garvaghy Road, they are saying it will become a no go area, a ghetto which belongs to nationalists, and unionists have no right to be there," he said.
Banning the march would have serious implications, he warned: "Those implications will reverberate through other parts of Northern Ireland. Why should there be no go areas of Northern Ireland? A public highway does not belong to any tradition. It belongs to everyone.