The Apprentice Boys loyal order and the Bogside Residents Group met in Londonderry on Wednesday night to try to find agreement over the disputed 14 August march.

Businessman Garbhain O'Doherty, who co-chaired the meeting with Brendan Duddy, said there was a very positive mood and that follow up meetings would be convened in the near future.

Moral duty

He said: "There was frank exchange of views with the parties concerned. There is a lot of work to be done summarising the minutes and taking action points thereon.

"There is a moral duty on all of us to reach some form of accommodation so that parades so that the city benefits and the North in general can learn from what we are about.

"There will be a follow up meeting and further substantial progress should be reported in due course."

The head of the Apprentice Boys, Alistair Simpson and Bogside Residents spokesman Donncha McNaillais both attended the meeting.

The route of the main annual loyal order parade in Derry is opposed by the Bogside Residents.

Meeting directly with the residents is against Apprentice Boys' policy, but businessmen from Londonderry's Town Centre Management Group arranged "proximity talks" between the two groups.

The groups agreed to sit in the same room, but addressed their comments through a chairman from the business community.

Need to defuse situation

The traders hope to defuse the tension surrounding the Apprentice Boys parade, which usually forces them to close on the day of the parade and has led to civil unrest and damage to property in the past.

The August 14 parade is the main Apprentice Boys march

The SDLP Mayor of Derry, Pat Ramsey, said that if the city was to prosper, it had to be free from the annual parades tension.

He said: ''There has been tremendous work put in recent weeks with businessmen in the city facilitating proximity talks.

''I have met with the Bogside Residents and with the Apprentice Boys and they are all in compromise mode.''

One Derry businessman told the BBC that agreement is badly needed.

Bookshop owner McKenzie said: ''Anywhere else in Europe these kind of events would be money spinners for the business community, but here on the day we have to close, because its just not safe for us to open.