Parades

Part of the debate – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 5:45 pm on 5 October 1998.

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Photo of Ms Brid Rodgers Ms Brid Rodgers Social Democratic and Labour Party 5:45, 5 October 1998

Regrettably, it has not ended there. For three months now the Nationalist community in Portadown has suffered intimidation and harassment. It has even been suggested by a representative of the Orange Order that the harassment could stop if they were allowed down the Garvaghy Road. The implication of that is clear.

Three Catholic-owned businesses in Portadown have been burnt down and others have been threatened; all of the town’s traders have had their trade seriously affected; and a young policeman lies in hospital with serious brain damage. He has a young wife and three children, and he is fighting for his life.

Who gains from such a situation? Not the Nationalist nor Unionist communities; not the traders; not even those who continue to protest and demonstrate; and certainly not Frank O’Reilly — the young policeman — or his wife and baby and two other children.

Surely it is time to stand back and apply common sense. It is time for the local leaders of Unionism to support publicly the need for dialogue. Surely the experience of the previous three decades is enough to prove to us all that violence and confrontation compounds our differences and ensures that everyone pays the price.

We are together here today, but our differences have not gone away. I hope that during the talks some of us have come to a better understanding of each other. We have agreed to disagree in some areas, but we have committed ourselves to working together to resolve our remaining differences. None of us is less true to himself for doing that. Entering into dialogue is not giving way on fundamental principles; it is a recognition of the reality that conflict cannot be resolved any other way.

The failure to break the deadlock over Drumcree must be addressed. It is unacceptable and intolerable that a small, unelected group of men in Portadown should continue to hold both communities to ransom simply because they will not enter into dialogue.