N. IRELAND: DRUMCREE: ORANGEMEN VOTE TO CONTINUE STAND-OFF

Описание: (13 Jul 1998) English/Nat

Protestant Orangemen have unanimously voted to continue their stand-off in Drumcree, despite calls by Northern Ireland's leaders for
an end to the protest.

Pressure had intensified after the deaths of three young Catholic brothers in an arson attack.

A fresh application to stage the Orange Order march through a Catholic area was turned down by the Parades Commission on Sunday.

Members of the Orange Order vowed on Sunday to continue their protest against the ban on their annual parade.

That decision was in defiance of an appeal from Northern Ireland's leaders to end the protest after an arson attack in which three young Catholic brothers died.

Northern Ireland's First Minister David Trimble urged Orangemen to abandon their stand-off in Drumcree.

His deputy, Seamus Mallon, said a solution to the current crisis was not impossible.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"And I must say to the Portadown brethren that the only way in which they can clearly distance themselves from these murders, show to the world that they repudiate those who have murdered young children and used them as an excuse for so doing the only way they can repudiate that is now to leave the hill at Drumcree Parish Church - and return home."
SUPER CAPTION: David Trimble, Northern Ireland First Minister

Britain's Northern Ireland Secretary, Mo Mowlam, spoke of her horror at the arson attack.

She called on both Orangemen and nationalists to do all they can to prevent further violence in the province.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"People should think whether they need to parade - do they need to parade, do they need to demonstrate? I ask mothers, fathers, daughters, if anybody's going out, do you really need to do this today because I think everybody ought to focus on what we can do in the next 24 to 48 hours to make it so that other families don't have to live the pain and suffering that this one is going through at the moment."
SUPER CAPTION: Mo Mowlam, Northern Ireland Secretary

At his parish church in Pomeroy, County Tyrone, Orange Order minister, the Reverend William Bingham, urged the Orangemen to back down in their dispute over the banned Garvaghy Road march.

Bingham said a victory now for the Orange Order would be hollow and meaningless.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I believe the Orange Order needs to call off its protests because we can't control them. Drumcree is rapidly getting out of our hands, we have to back off from that. Yes we can have a peaceful camp there for as long as it takes for men's rights to be established, but more bloodshed in our land - I ask you, is it worth it?"
SUPER CAPTION: Reverend William Bingham, Orange Order's County Chaplain for Armagh

Orange Order officials were keen to distance themselves from the violence.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"The officers and members of Portadown district wish to place on record their condemnation of these acts of violence. At a meeting tonight it was unanimously agreed that the brethren would maintain at presence at Drumcree until such times as the way is clear for the district to return to Portadown Orange Hall, via their traditional route."
SUPER CAPTION: David Jones, Press Officer for Portadown Orange Order

The residents of the Garvaghy Road are not about to give in either.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Brendan MacCionnaith, Leader of the Garvaghy Road residents

SOUNDBITE: (English)
SUPER CAPTION: Brid Rodgers, Social Democratic and Labour Party Official

The Orange Order will camp outside the Drumcree barricade every night until they are let through.

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