03/08/2009

Parades Talks With Orange Order Sought

The SDLP has said it is prepared to sit down with the Orange Order to discuss conflicting views on the Parades Commission.

SDLP MLAs claimed the abolition of the parades body would be 'a backward step'.

However, according to the nationalist party, the commission, set up under terms of the Good Friday Agreement, has "lost its way".

MLA Dolores Kelly said there was a risk the body was "further losing the confidence of the community".

In a statement, Ms Kelly said: "Elements within the Orange Order think they are sitting pretty with the Parades Commission in jeopardy and giving little or nothing in dialogue with nationalist communities."

Today the SDLP will launch its proposals on the contentious issue, and has already called for a meeting with the Orange Order.

SDLP Equality Spokesman Alex Attwood said his party would campaign against the "unpicking of the Good Friday Agreement by the DUP."

Sinn Féin Assembly member for Upper Bann John O’Dowd said that it was crucial the SDLP did not allow the primary focus - in his view the Orange Order - to shift.

"Out of thousands of Orange parades only a very small number are contentious. The onus is on the Orange Order to deal with these genuine and deeply felt concerns," he said.

PUP MLA Dawn Purvis wrote on her 'Twitter' page: "Surely the end of the Parades Commission is something we should all be working towards, including the SDLP."

The Strategic Review of Parading, headed up by former Lib Dem Leader Lord Ashdown, was established in 2007 to suggest ways to deal with future parades.

(PR/BMcC)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

19 May 2006
Parades Commission appointments "unlawful"
The High Court has today overturned the appointment of a prominent Orangeman onto the Parades Commission. A High Court judge quashed the appointment of Portadown Orange Order member, David Burrow, who was given the position in November last year.
02 May 2006
Orange Order to meet with SDLP
The Orange Order is set to meet with representatives from the SDLP at Stormont today to enter into dialogue in an attempt to come up with a solution to prevent rioting in flashpoint areas over the marching season, after violence erupted between rival factions last year.
24 June 2009
Ministers Square Up Over Parades Issue
In spite of working closely together on such issues as their joint condemnation of recent racist attacks, the First and Deputy First Ministers were this week at loggerheads over loyal order parades. First Minister Peter Robinson hit out at comments by his Executive colleague, the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.
26 September 2016
Twaddell Agreement: Orange Order To Apply To Parades Commission
The Orange Order is expected to put forward a proposal which could see a resolution over a parade dispute in Ardoyne in north Belfast. A deal was reached between the Orange Lodge and Crumlin and Ardoyne Residents Association (CARA) on Friday, 23 September, over the Twaddell Avenue protest which has being going on since July 2013.
23 June 2006
Parades Commission member quits Orange Order
A member of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, whose membership of the Orange Order sparked court action earlier in the month, has resigned from the Order. David Burrows was a member of the Portadown Lodge which was at the centre of the decade-long Drumcree dispute.