Orange Order says no proposals on table to resolve Drumcree dispute

Talks aimed at resolving the Drumcree dispute are expected to continue, as senior Orangeman Nigel Dawson says "there are currently no proposals on the table".

Both the Orange Order and the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition (GRRC) were given a document during separate meetings with Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant on Wednesday.

Speaking afterwards, the chairman of the residents' coalition said his group would agree to it if the Orange Order did.

On Sunday, an Orange Order parade from Drumcree Church into Portadown did not happen due to a large protest on the mainly-nationalist Garvaghy Road.

Protesters have since remained on the Garvaghy Road, although in much smaller numbers, and the Orange Order has maintained a presence at Drumcree Church, about a mile away.

On Thursday, The Nolan Show revealed details of what was in the document that was presented to both sides in the dispute.

BBC News NI understands that it said the Orange Order had the legal right to walk along the Garvaghy Road; that the residents would accept that legal entitlement and publicly accept that it was wrong to block the Orange Order from walking down the Garvaghy Road - but in return the Orange Order would choose not to walk down the road.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Gavin Robinson would not discuss the details of the proposal but told the Nolan Show that he supported the Orange Order's "determination and their dignity in the face of hostility and lawbreaking".

"In rejecting what is there doesn't mean that is the end of a discussion, nor does it mean it is the end of a successful conclusion," he said.

"But it does mean that this process is maybe not as optimistically quick as some may have hoped."

Sir Chris has been involved in discussions with the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road residents since Monday.

Talks at Hillsborough Castle are not likely to resume until later on Thursday.

Sir Chris had flown to England on Wednesday night for private reasons but it is understood that he intends to return to Northern Ireland on Thursday evening.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the GRRC issued a fresh legal bid to try to prevent the march from going ahead. It is due to be heard in the courts on Friday.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Jon Boutcher discussed the dispute at a public meeting of the Policing Board in Belfast on Thursday where he said the policing operation over the dispute has cost about £3m so far.

He described the situation as "challenging" - but said that despite "very significant tensions" there had been no violence.

The consequences of police forcing an Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road "could be catastrophic" for Northern Ireland, Boutcher added.

During the meeting, it also emerged that the Policing Board has launched a code-of-conduct investigation into one of its members, Sinn Féin's Deirdre Hargey.

She was pictured taking part in an unlawful protest against the march on the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.

First Minister Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Féin has been accused by the DUP of breaking the law by taking part in protest on Sunday.

In response, O'Neill said that if she was investigated then "so be it - that's the chief constable's job".

The Sinn Féin deputy leader returned to the Garvaghy Road on Wednesday to give further support to protesters.

Members of the Orange Order held face-to-face talks with Boutcher on Wednesday evening.

Nigel Dawson, the district master of the Orange Order in Portadown, told Orangemen outside Drumcree Church that they had received confirmation that the ruling allowing the parade was still active.

Some time later, Orangemen again attempted to set off on their walk from the church but were stopped at police lines.

GRRC chairman Breandán Mac Cionnaith also met the chief constable.

"We got the chief constable's position, he got our position," he said.

"He, like ourselves, is aware that there is a process under way at Hillsborough and he is not going to do anything to jeopardise that process either, like ourselves."

The Orange Order, the most prominent of the loyal orders associated with Protestants in Northern Ireland, holds thousands of parades every year and the vast majority pass off without incident.

However, many Catholics see the marches as sectarian and object to them passing through, or close to, mainly Catholic or nationalist areas.

The Garvaghy Road had been part of the Drumcree parade route but by the mid 1990s nationalist residents protested against it.

Drumcree was one of Northern Ireland's most serious parading disputes, when stand-offs over attempts by the Orange Order to march along the Garvaghy Road were accompanied by riots, roadblocks and killings.

When the Orange Order was prevented by police from walking down the route in July 1995, there was a tense stand-off. It was the same for the next three years.

In 1998, the newly-established Parades Commission ruled that the Orange Order should not march down the road - a decision that was upheld for the past 28 years.

The row re-emerged last month after a court case in which a ruling by the Parades Commission was overturned, and a fresh application to parade was lodged.

Last Friday, the commission decided that the march could go ahead with restrictions in place.

However, that decision was challenged in several Belfast courts on Saturday, before finally being given the go-ahead just hours before it was due to take place.