Drumcree Talks Collapse and the Legal Challenge Slips to Monday
Talks at Hillsborough Castle ended without agreement, the Northern Ireland Secretary said: “I think this is the end of these conversations. We haven’t come to a settled agreement, and it’s a shame, but my door remains open.” A fresh legal attempt by Garvaghy Road residents to stop the march, due to be heard on Friday, has been put back to Monday. The residents’ chairman said there had been no “meeting of minds”.
The postponement is the consequential part. It leaves a weekend with no agreement, no ruling and both sides holding incompatible positions. The Portadown district master Nigel Dawson said the Order is “in possession of a positive determination issued by the Parades Commission” that the courts have upheld, and called on the Secretary of State “to apply the law”. Sir Chris Bryant’s answer was that “the law, in the end, is the law” and that he would “urge everybody to cooperate with the police” — which puts the decision on the Chief Constable rather than the government. Breandán Mac Cionnaith said the process was “done” for now and, asked whether the road would be blocked if Monday’s appeal failed, pointed to the four thousand people in his community who have signed a petition: “Those four thousand people deserve to have their voice heard.” The Chief Constable Jon Boutcher warned that forcing a march down the Garvaghy Road “could be catastrophic” for Northern Ireland; the operation has cost about £3m without violence or injury. Fourteen members of the United States Congress have urged Sir Chris to cancel it. Watch whether anything is notified before Monday.