Portadown Orangemen have said that they will give their response in the next few days to a request from the Church of Ireland Primate, Archbishop Robin Eames, that they should adhere to three pledges governing their behaviour at Drumcree. Dr Eames had given the Orangemen a deadline of midnight last night to respond.
The Parades Commission will announce its ruling next Monday on the July 4th Orange Order parade in Portadown. The Orangemen have been protesting at Drumcree since they were prevented from marching on the nationalist Garvaghy Road last year.
The Portadown District Lodge has been asked by Dr Eames to honour three pledges before and after the church service at Drumcree next month. It is understood that Dr Eames has written a number of letters to the Orangemen since last autumn, the most recent last week.
According to Mr David Jones, a spokesman for the Portadown Orangemen, the lodge had intended contacting Dr Eames yesterday to let him know that they were "dealing with the letter".
The Orangemen met on Wednesday night to formulate a response. "It wasn't possible to get everything down in writing, because it is quite a detailed letter, and so we hope to have a reply out to them in the next few days", Mr Jones said.
The pledges were outlined by Dr Eames at the General Synod in May. They require Orangemen to avoid any action which diminishes the sanctity of worship, to show obedience to the law of the land and to avoid the use of the property of the Church of Ireland, or its environs, for any civil protest.