South Africa to host conference on Drumcree dispute

The Parades Commission in the North is believed to have organised a conference aimed at resolving the years-old dispute over the annual Drumcree march in Portadown, Co Armagh.

Twenty people involved in previous talks on the contentious parade have apparently been invited to attend the conference in South Africa.

These people include businessmen, police officers, clergy, and representatives of the main protagonists, the Orange Order and the Garvaghy Road residents.

The conference is expected to take place in late February.

The Drumcree parade has been barred from passing down the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road for the past number of years due to the Orange Order’s refusal to enter talks with the local residents, who regard the march as provocative triumphalism.