THE RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley, is to meet Irish ministers to explain his handling of the Drumcree march. In the House of Commons yesterday, the Northern Ireland Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, also announced a special session of the Anglo Irish conference on Thursday.
Sir Patrick told MPs: "We intend . . . to rebut very firmly quite unjustified and unwarranted criticism which has been made of the government and the RUC.
"In particular, my purpose will be, in the presence of the Chief Constable, to rebut any suggestion of political interference in his operational decisions."
Sir Patrick said the British government would be setting up a review of the arrangements for managing controversial parades in future.
He said there were "no immediately obvious answers to the potentially destabilising effect of controversial marches. But the review would enable evidence to be collected on the better management of parades.
Mr Mayhew defended Sir Hugh's decision to allow the Drumcree march to proceed after a five day stand off with the Orangemen, saying there was a real danger that police lines could have been overrun.
Unprecedented efforts had been made to secure an accommodation. But in the face of "insidious, despicable and disgusting threats" to RUC officers, it was finally decided that a limited parade was the option "most likely to prevent loss of life".
Referring to relations with the Irish Government, he said: "I have had to respond very robustly to what I knew to be unjust criticisms uttered over the weekend. We must get through this period, as I am quite certain we shall, and resume the constructive and forward looking relationships that have always characterised progress in this field."
However, there was a clear indication that the cross party consensus between Labour and the Conservatives was coming under strain, with shadow Northern Ireland Secretary, Ms Mo Mowlam, claiming Sir Patrick was "partly responsible" for the failure to reach agreement over the march between the two communities at Drumcree.
Recriminations continued with Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, attacking the SDLP for "adopting the Sinn Fein policy of abstention" by pulling out of the Northern Ireland forum. Mr Trimble appealed to the loyalist paramilitaries not to break their ceasefire, despite the pressures of recent days.
However, there was some bitter leaders of the unionist parties during the events surrounding Drumcree. The former Northern Ireland minister, Mr Michael Mates, said it was up to politicians who had previously called for the law to be upheld for themselves to maintain the law.
And the former Liberal leader, Sir David Steel, said "fellow parliamentarians who describe themselves as loyalists" should set a higher standard of leadership than saying `There is a crowd, we'll follow it'."