Sources within the Orange Order said yesterday that members of the Portadown Orange District are "no nearer to completing the Drumcree Church parade than they were in July 1998."
The sources, conversant with the recent talks, said many Orangemen were becoming increasingly frustrated with the continued participation of the Portadown leader ship in talks which appeared to be "going absolutely nowhere."
The source said: "The prospects of an Orange parade getting down the Garvaghy Road in the immediate future are zero. That's the bottom line despite what senior Orangemen like David Menary or politicians such as David Trimble say to the contrary.
"The plain facts of the matter are that the representatives of Portadown District are no match for either the British officials or the local nationalists in the art of negotiations."
The source said this inexperience became apparent when Orange representatives were almost "suckered" into a face-to-face meeting with the Garvaghy Road residents at the last round of talks.
"Such a move would have been contrary to Grand Lodge policy and would have totally compromised the Portadown Orangemen," concluded the source.
Meanwhile, the continued refusal of the Portadown Orange District to participate in any form of face-to-face negotiations with the Garvaghy Road residents on the parade issue has led to a hardening of attitudes within Portadown's nationalist community. Support for the residents' spokesperson, Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, has increased.
A growing number of residents are now totally opposed to any form of Orange parade being allowed down the route.