GARVAGHY ROAD RESIDENTS COALITION
c/o 3, Ashgrove Road
Portadown
Co.Armagh, Ireland
Phone/Fax: +44 (028) 38 392898
PRESS RELEASE -
JUNE 30 2003
RESIDENTS
WELCOME PARADES COMMISSION’S RULING ON DRUMCREE MARCH
A spokesperson for the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition in Portadown has
welcomed the decision by the Parades Commission to prohibit this year’s
Drumcree Orange march from proceeding along the Garvaghy Road. In a statement, a
spokesperson for the GRRC said, “ Given the turbulent history of this parade
in recent years, and absence of genuine dialogue, it is clear that Commission
could not have reached any other decision.
"The reality is that there has been no process of dialogue or mediation
in relation to the Drumcree issue since the closure of the process chaired by
Brian Currin at the end of 2001.
“If
there have been any form of discussions in recent times, as recent media reports
suggest, then they have clearly been discussions from which the GRRC were
deliberately excluded. It is also interesting to note that the Parades
Commission has stated in today’s determination that it ‘is
unaware of any meaningful engagement having taken place with representatives of
the local community.’
“ We
also note that the Commission clearly states that, in the event of any genuine
dialogue, the parties must enter such a process with no pre-conceived outcomes.
In other words, if Nationalists are expected to accept that one possible result
of dialogue could be an Orange march along the Garvaghy Road, then the converse
must also hold true - the Orange
Order must be expected to accept that an equally possible result of dialogue
could be no march.”
ENDS