Mallon to meet Orange Order

Drumcree Church: Scene of controversial march.

The deputy leader of the nationalist SDLP, Seamus Mallon, has agreed to a meeting with Protestant Orangemen in Portadown, County Armagh.

Mr Mallon stressed that the meeting would be in his role within the SDLP and not as deputy first minister of Northern Ireland.

The Orangemen had hoped to meet him on Tuesday, but a mutually convenient time for the talks has yet to be found.

However, talks with First Minister David Trimble are expected to go ahead later.

It is thought the dispute over the Order's march at Drumcree will be on the agenda.

Mr Mallon agreed to a meeting after a request was made by the officers of the Portadown district lodge to meet him and Mr Trimble.

Mallon will discuss Drumcree march.

A spokesman for Mr Mallon said: "Mr Mallon will be meeting them as the SDLP deputy leader and with his colleague Brid Rodgers as the local assembly member."

Total ban warning

The Drumcree dispute centres on the Orange Order's desire to walk down the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road near Portadown.

The Parades Commission, the body established to make rulings on contentious marches, has barred the Drumcree parade from passing along the road since July 1998.

The head of the Orange Order, Robert Saulters, held his first meeting with Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr John Reid on Monday.

Mr Reid described it as a useful meeting, while Mr Saulters said it was friendly, but that little progress had been made.

The Orangemen in Portadown have been warned by independent mediator Brian Currin and the Parades Commission that their failure to enter into direct dialogue with the commission and nationalist residents, weakened their case for a lifting of the ban.

Brian Currin: Parades mediator

Speaking in February, Mr Currin said it would be difficult to imagine the process advancing in a meaningful way if the order maintained its ban on talks.

He said the emphasis should be on a collaborative effort including the residents, the Parades Commission and the government.

He warned that European human rights legislation could result in a total ban on marches if a joint solution was not reached.

"The Parades Commission provides a key to the preservation of cultural diversity in Northern Ireland," he said.

"If that key is thrown away, the consequences for Orangeism, its culture and traditions will be dire."

Protests over a ban on the annual march from Drumcree church in Portadown taking the route along the Garvaghy Road, led to widespread disruption in Northern Ireland last summer, spilling over into violence in some areas.