Last push for agreements as nationalists brace for sieges
By Dave Riley
With last-ditch efforts under way to avoid a summer of conflict on a par with last year, nationalists in the north of Ireland are preparing themselves for an onslaught of sectarian parades, sieges and stand-offs.
There are more than 3000 marches throughout the north of Ireland each year, more than 2500 of them conducted by the Orange Order, an anti-Catholic group that supports the continued British occupation of the Six Counties.
Orangemen in Portadown, County Armagh, have served notice that they intend to march from nearby Drumcree down the town's nationalist Garvaghy Road on July 6.
Last year's march ended in a siege by more than 10,000 Orangemen. On that occasion, Unionists overwhelmed an ambivalent British government with lightning roadblocks and threats of a mutiny within the sectarian Royal Ulster Constabulary police force. The RUC suddenly reversed a decision to block the Protestant parade and, instead, battled nationalist demonstrators along its route through the Catholic enclave.
The RUC later failed to stop Orange riots that closed the international airport in Belfast and the port at Larne for four days and nights, and resulted in the burning of buses and private cars, the disruption of major highways and the death of a nationalist taxi driver.
These marches are sectarian occasions designed to demonstrate the power of the Orange Order, which orchestrates them to intimidate the nationalist community. The order has planned marches through the Catholic areas of Belfast for each and every day in the week following the anticipated parade in Portadown.
Despite efforts by the new secretary of state for Ireland, Mo Mowlan, to float a compromise, and the attempt by two Ulster newspapers to get the order to accept a moratorium on the planned route, the problem remains the refusal by the various Protestant marching organisations to enter dialogue with any nationalist community group.
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition have stated in a letter sent to Orangemen in the Portadown area that they remain willing to negotiate with the leadership of the Orange Order concerning the route of the parade. Despite the possibility of using another parallel route, Orangemen are still insisting on parading through the nationalist area on July 7 — one of 50 regular loyalist marches scheduled for Portadown each year.
The Orange Order has ruled out any talks with the Garvaghy Road residents. Grand Lodge secretary John McCrea told the local media: "We will not be speaking to any residents' groups that have an involvement with Sinn Féin".
Britain's new prime minister, Tony Blair, has announced that his government will sponsor "proximity talks" in an effort to resolve the issue. While Sinn Féin has welcomed the proposal, the Orange Order has failed, so far, to agree to participate in the talks.