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03/08/2009
Parades Talks With Orange Order Sought
The SDLP has said it is prepared to sit down with the Orange Order to discuss conflicting views on the Parades Commission.
SDLP MLAs claimed the abolition of the parades body would be 'a backward step'.
However, according to the nationalist party, the commission, set up under terms of the Good Friday Agreement, has "lost its way".
MLA Dolores Kelly said there was a risk the body was "further losing the confidence of the community".
In a statement, Ms Kelly said: "Elements within the Orange Order think they are sitting pretty with the Parades Commission in jeopardy and giving little or nothing in dialogue with nationalist communities."
Today the SDLP will launch its proposals on the contentious issue, and has already called for a meeting with the Orange Order.
SDLP Equality Spokesman Alex Attwood said his party would campaign against the "unpicking of the Good Friday Agreement by the DUP."
Sinn Féin Assembly member for Upper Bann John O’Dowd said that it was crucial the SDLP did not allow the primary focus - in his view the Orange Order - to shift.
"Out of thousands of Orange parades only a very small number are contentious. The onus is on the Orange Order to deal with these genuine and deeply felt concerns," he said.
PUP MLA Dawn Purvis wrote on her 'Twitter' page: "Surely the end of the Parades Commission is something we should all be working towards, including the SDLP."
The Strategic Review of Parading, headed up by former Lib Dem Leader Lord Ashdown, was established in 2007 to suggest ways to deal with future parades.
(PR/BMcC)
SDLP MLAs claimed the abolition of the parades body would be 'a backward step'.
However, according to the nationalist party, the commission, set up under terms of the Good Friday Agreement, has "lost its way".
MLA Dolores Kelly said there was a risk the body was "further losing the confidence of the community".
In a statement, Ms Kelly said: "Elements within the Orange Order think they are sitting pretty with the Parades Commission in jeopardy and giving little or nothing in dialogue with nationalist communities."
Today the SDLP will launch its proposals on the contentious issue, and has already called for a meeting with the Orange Order.
SDLP Equality Spokesman Alex Attwood said his party would campaign against the "unpicking of the Good Friday Agreement by the DUP."
Sinn Féin Assembly member for Upper Bann John O’Dowd said that it was crucial the SDLP did not allow the primary focus - in his view the Orange Order - to shift.
"Out of thousands of Orange parades only a very small number are contentious. The onus is on the Orange Order to deal with these genuine and deeply felt concerns," he said.
PUP MLA Dawn Purvis wrote on her 'Twitter' page: "Surely the end of the Parades Commission is something we should all be working towards, including the SDLP."
The Strategic Review of Parading, headed up by former Lib Dem Leader Lord Ashdown, was established in 2007 to suggest ways to deal with future parades.
(PR/BMcC)
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