An outline proposal to end the Drumcree deadlock – said to involve Garvaghy Road residents recognising the Orange Order’s legal right to march but the Order voluntarily not walking the route – has already been rejected by key unionist figures, according to claims aired on BBC Radio Ulster’s Nolan Show.
On Thursday morning, presenter Stephen Nolan reported being briefed by what he described as a “senior source” on the shape of a document put to both sides by Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant during Hillsborough Castle talks.
According to that briefing, the suggested deal would have seen:
– The Orange Order’s legal right to walk the Garvaghy Road formally acknowledged;
– The Garvaghy Road residents’ side accepting that right and accepting that it was wrong to block the parade;
– But the Orange Order then choosing not to exercise that right by actually walking down the Garvaghy Road.
“We’re being briefed that that was what is in that proposal that the Secretary of State put in front of both parties,” Nolan told listeners.
“The people in that room, none of them are talking publicly about this, but if that’s what it is, it’s already been ruled out last night by the DUP’s Carla Lockhart.”
Nolan said DUP MP for Upper Bann MP made clear she would not support any arrangement that saw Portadown District LOL No 1 step back from marching the contested stretch.
She said: “There will be no capitulation on the part of the Portadown District. They will not accept a deal where they walk away.
“They have the legal right to walk on the Garvaghy Road, and it’s time for [Chief Constable] Jon Boutcher to get on and do his job.”
On Wednesday, Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition spokesman Breandán Mac Cionnaith said his side had received a document from the Secretary of State and indicated they would be minded to accept it if the Orange Order did likewise.
“Let’s say if it’s accepted by the Orange Order, it’ll be accepted by us I would say,” he said outside Hillsborough.
However, later that evening loyalist activist Jamie Bryson – legal adviser to Portadown District LOL No 1 – told supporters in Portadown that there was “no document on the table” and insisted the District would not do any deal that fell short of a full walk down the Garvaghy Road.
“The Portadown District will not surrender the fundamental principle. Not now. Not last week. Not next week. Not ever,” he said.
Neither the Orange Order, the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, nor the Northern Ireland Office has so far publicly confirmed the detail of any proposal tabled by the Secretary of State.
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