Talks over blocked Orange Order march in Northern Ireland end without compromise

Talks to Resolve Orange Order March Standoff in Northern Ireland Collapse

Breakdown of Negotiations and Ongoing Dispute

Background of the Standoff

BELFAST, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Britain's Northern Ireland minister said talks with the Protestant Orange Order and residents blocking them marching through a Catholic area of a Northern Irish town have ended for now without agreement to end the standoff.

A large group of protesters, including Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill, blocked the route ahead of the scheduled march on Sunday. This led to a standoff, with both sides declining to disperse and police remaining between them.

Legal Actions and Historical Context

Return to Court and Previous Bans

Residents from the Garvaghy Road will return to court on Monday in a fresh bid to overturn the lifting last week of an almost 30-year ban on the route.

The parade had triggered unrest across British-run Northern Ireland in the mid-1990s. It was banned from following the route along the Garvaghy Road, a Catholic area in the mainly Protestant town of Portadown, in 1998, the same year as the signing of a peace deal that largely ended three decades of violence known as the "Troubles".

Statements from Officials

"This is the end of these conversations. We haven't come to a settled agreement, and it's a shame, but my door remains open," Britain's Northern Ireland Minister Chris Bryant said late on Thursday, after four days of separate talks with the two sides.

"There's a court case on Monday. Obviously, we'll have to see how that plays out. And I would say that the law, in the end, is the law."

Parades Commission and Mediation Efforts

Commission's Role and Decisions

The residents, who failed to block the parade in legal challenges last weekend, will challenge the interpretation by Northern Ireland's Parades Commission of police advice over the potential for disorder.

The commission, set up at the time of the original Drumcree dispute to regulate marches, permitted a smaller-than-usual parade after its initial decision to continue the ban was quashed by a court in August over a procedural error.

Rejected Compromises

Mediation and Alternative Proposals

Bryant said potential compromises rejected in the talks included mediation, an option where the right to march was respected but not exercised, and where a "final march" would be allowed with no further applications made in the future.

Current Situation and Outlook

Members of the Orange Order have remained at the start of the route all week, while protesters have stayed by the Garvaghy Road 1.5 kilometres (1 mile) away.

(Reporting by Amanda Ferguson, writing by Padraic Halpin, Editing by Alex Richardson)