THE review body set up by the British government to look at the parades issue in Northern Ireland started its sweep for submissions yesterday and pledged to deliver a forward looking, impartial report.
The three member Independent Review of Parades and Marches has to make recommendations by the end of January and yesterday it called on all interested parties to submit written representations by October 15th.
At a press conference in Belfast, the chairman, Dr Peter North, Vice Chancellor of the University of Oxford, said that the review body provided a real opportunity for individuals and organisations to make a constructive contribution to the resolution of difficult issues.
His fellow members on the review team are Father Oliver Crilly, a parish priest in Strabane with wide experience in the communications field, and the Very Rev Dr John Dunlop, former Presbyterian Moderator, author and lecturer on cultural diversity.
They have been asked to review the current arrangements for handling public processions, open in public meetings and associated public order issues" in Northern Ireland, "having regard to the particular experience of 1996".
Dr North said yesterday he was delighted that agreement had been arrived at in Bellaghy on this weekend's Royal Black Institution parade. This could not have happened at a more opportune time for the start of their work, he said.
His team stood ready and willing to listen to anybody who had views to express on the parades issue, he said. They have already written to all the Northern political parties (including Sinn Fein) to invite submissions, and advertisements are being placed in the local press.
Asked if the Irish Government could contribute views, he said that, if it wished to do so, the review team would look with care at what, it had to say, "as we will look with care at what anyone has to say to us".
As well as inviting written representations, the review team intends to held meetings with as many individuals and groups as possible in the given time. They will also visit and inspect known flashpoints in various parts of the North.