THE Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition spokesman yesterday welcomed Mr Bob McCartney's proposal that the Orangemen be given the right to walk down the road but do not exercise that right.
Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith said such a proposal would give the residents in the area a badly-needed breathing space. He said: "Our position has always been in relation to the Orange march on the Garvaghy Road this year, that the nationalist community needs a breathing space from the parades. The best way to achieve that is to voluntarily reroute."
Earlier yesterday the proposal appeared to be welcomed by the Orange Order's Grand Master, Mr Robert Saulters. Later he said such a proposal would not be acceptable to the Portadown district. Mr Mac Cionnaith said, however, it was a good thing that people on the unionist side were saying the nationalist community in Portadown need this breathing space. "I would welcome those developments," he said.
Mr McCartney had said that such a waiver should be backed by an undertaking by the British government that the Orange right to march would be guaranteed. This did not pose a problem for Mr Mac Cionnaith:
"Regarding the public order legislation, you do have the right to march. Everybody has the right to march. It's how that right is exercised. That's our position and I think that's Bob McCartney's position. So in that sense we are not poles apart. He's saying you should have the right to march but you shouldn't exercise it."
We are also saying, and we have said to the Orange Order, "you have the right to march but we would prefer that you didn't exercise it. So it's the same thing. It's basically what we have been saying only couched in different words. The only other proposal currently on the table is that Portadown District parade as usual with some trimmings. This is not acceptable to the Garvaghy Road residents."
Mr Mac Cionnaith added: "That's 1,500 people at least. There'll be no politicians but sure David Trimble hasn't been on the Garvaghy Road for the last two years so there's nothing new in that. There'll be two bands accompanying the parade but last year there was only one, the year before there were no bands. They would walk six abreast. Well, even a parade of 1,500 men would look like a formidable demonstration. So there is nothing new.
"What they are saying is that the Orange Order is going down the Garvaghy Road and this is how we're going to do it. There's no sensitivity shown to the people here."
He said plans for the weekend remained the same. They had planned a peaceful protest on the Garvaghy Road and this will be confined to local people. He said they were still considering whether to go ahead with the festival, which nationalists had planned to coincide with the march on Sunday, but it seemed likely to take place in one form or another.
"We are not going to allow the RUC to deprive the people here and if it means the festival taking place off the road surrounded by hundreds of armed troops and policemen then so be it, because it will show people just how ridiculous this situation is," Mr Mac Cionnaith said.