Drumcree talks make no progress

A MINOR disturbance occurred after a meeting in Portadown, Co Armagh, organised by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission.

There were heated exchanges between loyalists and the chairman of the commission, Mr Alistair Graham.

The meeting had aimed to ascertain the views of both sides in the Drumcree impasse. But nationalists on the Garvaghy Road felt the Town Hall venue was not neutral given tension in the town after the murder of a Catholic, Mr Robert Hamill.

At the meeting, attended mostly by loyalists, the general view was that no deals should be done and no negotiations should take place with the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition.

The coalition, which held a separate meeting in its community centre, decided to hold an open air festival on the road on the contentious July 6th date.

Over 800 people attended this meeting and, after a vote, it was decided the coalition should not negotiate with the RUC this year.

Distrust of the RUC, said people at the meeting, came from the circumstances surrounding the recent beating of Mr Hamill and the fact that the police live in Protestant areas.

A solicitor acting for the coalition will write to the RUC, saying a last minute decision such as last year's to route the parade via the Garvaghy Road will not be acceptable.

Coalition secretary Father Eamon Stack said: "Observers will be here from all over the world and if they try to push a march down the road it will be the most disgraceful moment in the history of the British state."

The residents meet the parades commission on Monday.