DERRY is bracing itself for a weekend of disruption after the collapse of talks aimed at breaking the deadlock over Saturday's Apprentice Boys' parade.
The breakdown yesterday of the fourth round of negotiations between the Apprentice Boys and the Bogside Residents' Group (BRG) in Derry also provoked fears of another Drumcree type standoff which could spread through the North.
The Apprentice Boys last night met local church leaders in Derry, including the Catholic and Church of Ireland Bishops, Dr Seamus Hegarty and Dr James Mehaffey, to try to find further room for manoeuvre during the three day countdown to Saturday's parade.
The BRG has organised a march in Derry on Friday night demanding parity of esteem" for nationalists. It is also expected that nationalists from elsewhere in the North will travel to Derry to show solidarity. People in the Bogside have been asked to provide accommodation for visiting supporters.
The RUC in Derry has appealed for a compromise. "We don't want to be piggy in the middle like in Drumcree," one source said.
Supt Joe McKeever, the local divisional commander, said while formal talks had broken down, "other avenues remained open.
The BRG yesterday insisted nationalist agreement to the loyalist parade could only be granted if the Apprentice Boys accepted that all of its parades in other parts of the North could only proceed with the permission of local nationalist communities.
The BRG spokesman, Mr Donncha Mac Niallais, said. "The mood in this city after the events on the Garvaghy Road, the lower Ormeau Road, and here in Derry was such that there was complete opposition to the Apprentice Boys even being allowed on the west bank.
Mr Mac Niallais refused to say what contingency plans his grouping had for Saturday, or whether nationalists might try to block Craigavon bridge in an effort to prevent Apprentice Boys getting to Derry city centre and the walls of Derry.
"We will take every possible step to stop people from engaging in violence," he said.
Mr Alistair Simpson, governor of the Apprentice Boys, accused Mr Mac Niallais being dictatorial, and of not being concerned for the peace and stability of the city of Derry. He did not "even want to think about what may happen" in the event of Saturday arriving without any agreement, but the Apprentice Boys would not be involved in violence.
He also said he was not in a position to give a commitment to consent on behalf of Apprentice Boys branches outside of the city. "I would have been fooling him, and everyone else, if I said I could give such agreement."
The two sides are also deadlocked on the issue of how many Apprentice Boys would march along Derry's walls on Saturday in the event of an agreement.
The sides met for two hours yesterday under the chairmanship of the SDLP leader, Mr John Hume. The talks broke down shortly after noon. Mr Hume said he was disappointed at the outcome but would remain in contact with both sides in an effort to broker an agreement. "I am keeping the door open," he said.
A local DUP councillor, Mr Gregory Campbell, said of the Bogside grouping. "It's almost as if they want to get their own back for Drumcree."
