Deal to resolve Drumcree standoff is ‘tantalisingly close’, says NI secretary after talks over march

A deal to resolve the Drumcree stand-off is “tantalisingly close”, UK secretary of state for Northern Ireland Chris Bryant has said, following further talks on Wednesday.Speaking to reporters outside Hillsborough Castle after meeting the Orange Order and with the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, Bryant said those involved were “still engaged in warm conversations” and “have not got to the end of this process yet”.“Everybody is being very frank with each other and open and honest, and I think that is the best way for us to try and get to a successful resolution,” he said.“As everybody, not only in Northern Ireland but internationally, looks at the situation here, I think everybody wants to get to a successful resolution so that everybody can have their heads held high,” he said.READ MORE“We’ve not got there yet, we’re still working on it.” Bryant issued an “appeal to everybody, including the wider community ... people are going to have to search deep in their souls for another chunk of compromise if we’re going to get to a successful long-term resolution of the situation.“I personally – and everybody in my team – is personally working flat out to try and get to a successful resolution and I think that is tantalisingly close if everybody can just go that extra mile,” he said. Earlier, Northern Ireland’s Chief Constable offered to meet organisations at the centre of the Drumcree parade standoff, including the Orange Order and the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition, in an attempt to break the impasse over the controversial march. Breandán Mac Cionnaith and members of the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition at Hillsborough Castle. Photograph: Mark Marlow/PA In a statement on Wednesday afternoon, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said Jon Boutcher and Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson had “offered to conduct a series of meetings” with the groups on Wednesday “in the backdrop and [in] support of the ongoing discussions” with Bryant. Calling on all involved to “focus our efforts on resolving this situation once and for all”, Boutcher said that in recent days the PSNI “has once again become the shock absorber of our society”. He added that his officers “have and will continue to police Drumcree and our communities independently and impartially”.In a PSNI statement on Wednesday, the Chief Constable said: “To be clear, the upholding of the Parades Commission determination does not come at any cost. “The outstanding officers of the PSNI and our mutual aid colleagues will not allow society to implode into violent disorder and mob rule must not be allowed to win.“A large-scale criminal investigation is under way regarding unlawful protest on the Garvaghy Road. I have given a clear direction regarding prioritising the evidence-gathering and a criminal justice process.” A further meeting, lasting around two hours, took place on Wednesday between Bryant and the Orange Order at Hillsborough Castle, and on Wednesday lunchtime he was meeting representatives from the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition. Speaking to reporters following the latest round of talks with Chris Bryant at Hillsborough Castle, Co Down, on Wednesday, the Orange Order’s Portadown district master Nigel Dawson said Bryant had been left “in no doubt that our continued position is that he must, and the Chief Constable must, apply the law in relation to the positive determination issued by the Parades Commission and reinforced by the High Court”. Asked on the way into the meeting what his message was for Bryant, Breandán Mac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition replied: “I think you know that.” He has repeatedly stated his position is “reroute the sectarian parade”.On Sunday, a limited march by 35 members of the Orange Order – which was given the go-ahead by the Parades Commission and subsequently by the High Court – was prevented from proceeding due to the presence of protesters on the Garvaghy Road. The order have made a number of attempts to parade down the road since then, but their way has been blocked by police Land Rovers, with protesters now maintaining watch along the sides of the road. Now in its fourth day, the standoff at Drumcree appears no closer to being resolved and has led to angry exchanges between unionist and nationalist Assembly members at Stormont. Unionist Assembly members (MLAs) have called for the arrest and prosecution of Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald and vice-president Michelle O’Neill, Northern Ireland’s First Minister, because of their presence at Sunday’s protest. It has been deemed illegal by the PSNI because it was not notified to the Parades Commission, as is required in the North. On Wednesday, Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) MLA Timothy Gaston said he had tabled motions to exclude O’Neill and other Sinn Féin ministers from holding office for a period of 12 months, claiming they “no longer enjoy the confidence of the Assembly” after participating in the “unlawful” protest on Sunday. A legal challenge to the High Court decision which overturned an earlier injunction banning the parade is due to be heard at Belfast’s Court of Appeal on Friday.