A key Portadown Orangeman is today due to have talks with the Parades Commission which has again banned the Drumcree parade from the nationalist Garvaghy Road.
The meeting will take place despite the Orange Order's policy that it does not talk to the organisation.
|
Portadown lodge spokesman Mr David Jones insisted he was going to the meeting as a local councillor, and not as an Orangeman.
He is a member of a delegation selected by Craigavon District Council to meet the commission to discuss the parade.
Mr Jones branded the commission "unrepresentative and unaccountable". But he said: "Whether we like it or not, the Parades Commission does exist. We have to recognise it because we can't get off Drumcree Hill."
Mr Jones was elected for the first time as an independent councillor at the local elections last month.
He and three other unionist councillors will try to get the commission to overturn last night's decision to ban next Sunday's parade from the Garvaghy Rod for the fourth consecutive year.
The SDLP's Ms Brid Rodgers, Northern Agriculture Minister and an Assembly member for the Portadown area, said the commission had made the only possible decision in view of the Orange Order's refusal to meet it or engage in dialogue with the Garvaghy residents.
She too was preparing to meet the commission, to ensure it stood by the decision.
Meanwhile the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland says it will carefully consider its options following the latest ruling.
Executive officer Mr George Patten said it was disappointed by the decision but appealed for calm.
A South African mediator in the Drumcree dispute today pleaded with loyalist paramilitaries to stay away from the area on Sunday in the best interests of a long-term settlement.
Mr Brian Currin, who has been trying to broker a deal between nationalist Garvaghy Road residents and the Orange Order, said while the dispute remained unresolved, it did not mean a settlement will elude the parties forever.
He said: "If loyalist paramilitaries want a resolution to Drumcree, they can best make a contribution by allowing the Orangemen to give expression to their culture and religion with dignity and in a peaceful manner."
PA