Northern First Minister Mr David Trimble tonight called for the Drumcree Orangemen to be allowed to march down the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.
As police and troops prepared for a potentially violent parade in north and west Belfast tomorrow, Mr Trimble said Orangemen should be allowed to walk their traditional route.
After talks with the head of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, Mr Trimble said: "Following today's meeting, I very much hope that the Commission will arrive at a sensible decision on the parade, which recognises the rights of the Portadown District."
|
The Drumcree Orangemen have been banned from marching the Garvaghy Road since 1998 and security chiefs fear major violence if they are blocked on July 8th.
Church leaders tonight appealed for calm in advance of what could be one of the most difficult periods in Northern Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.
Several Catholics have been targeted in a new wave of bomb attacks by loyalist paramilitaries opposed to the peace process.
|
|
Sir Ronnie Flanagan
|
RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said today he hoped serious violence could be avoided if common sense prevailed on all sides.
But there is a fear that individual loyalist paramilitaries will attempt to orchestrate major violence.
The British and Irish governments expect Mr Trimble's threat to resign as First Minister at midnight on Saturday is now inevitable but senior civil servants fear tensions will heighten dramatically over tomorrow's Belfast parade and at Drumcree, where thousands of Orangemen and their supporters will gather.
Mr Trimble met the Parades Commission chairman Mr Tony Holland in a move to clear the way for the Orangemen to march the Garvaghy Road.
He pressed for "a sensible outcome" to this year's parade and explained why the Garvaghy Road ban should be lifted.
"In their determinations, the Commission set great store by the need to balance the competing rights of the Portadown District with the Garvaghy Road residents.
"Yet, I pointed out that in over 150 determinations the Commission has recognised and preferred the rights of the protesting residents.
"Furthermore I impressed on the Commission that the rights of the Portadown District have yet to be recognised on even one occasion by the present Commission," he added.
PA