DR Mo Mowlam has confirmed that she would implement the North report proposals on parades in Northern Ireland within "the first two or three weeks of a Labour government".
Dr Mowlam, who hopes to be Northern Ireland secretary of state in a Blair government, said she would seek to give legislative effect to the proposals - and to establish a parades commission with statutory powers before the end of May. However, she warned this did not mean the proposed commission would necessarily be operational in time for this year's marching season.
With the parades issue on the agenda for today's Anglo-Irish Inter-governmental Conference meeting in Dublin, Dr Mowlam said events in the interim - including on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast on March 31st - could be a factor in deciding whether the proposed commission would be up and running this summer.
"It would be a mistake in my view if we put it in in June on a difficult one and it was stillborn,"' she said.