Sir, - Along with party colleagues, I spent last weekend observing events at Garvaghy Road/ Drumcree. The delegation, which included leading members of my party in the North, wished to hear the views of local people on what is happening. The situation could develop into a major confrontation which could wreck the peace process. My impression is that attitudes are visibly hardening as these events progress.
What we are witnessing is the failure of a strategy of seeking solutions over the heads of the people on the ground. The only answer to the problem of parades lies in local negotiation and local agreement. I firmly believe that face-to-face meetings between residents and march organisers could have averted this crisis and could still prevent it escalating.
Having a Parades Commission which can issue rulings from above can actually reduce the pressure on the two sides to negotiate. This body has no authority with either side and should be stood down.
Now there are only two choices. Drumcree can be resolved by force, force directed either against the marchers or against residents. The result would be widespread violence and a conflict from which no-one would emerge victorious but in which the working class, Catholic and Protestant, would be the real loser.
Or there can be negotiation and a compromise on this and the other disputed parades. The first step to unlocking the situation would be a statement for the Orange Order saying that they will meet and discuss with whoever is democratically chosen by residents to represent them. There could then be dialogue over the nature, frequency and conduct of marches.
To the conflict of rights between those of the marchers and the residents I add a third - the right of the working class as a whole not to be dragged down into a sectarian conflict over this issue. I call upon trade unionists and community activists across Northern Ireland to exert every pressure on the Orange Order to talk and upon both sides to be prepared to reach an agreement. - Yours, etc., Joe Higgins Td,
Socialist Party, Dail Eireann, Baile Atha Cliath 2.