N. Ireland Talks Fail to Produce Deal on Marches
British-sponsored talks aimed at reducing tensions during Northern Ireland’s volatile “marching season” ended after eight hours Friday without agreement, participants said.
“While we have not reached a resolution today, there are a number of areas which I want to consider further,” Britain’s Northern Ireland Secretary Marjorie Mowlam said in a statement. “I shall do this and be in touch again with both sides early next week.”
Mowlam brought Roman Catholic objectors and Protestant parade organizers under the same roof, although they stayed in separate rooms, to try to reach a compromise about the most hotly disputed pro-British procession, due to be held in Portadown on July 6.
Britain fears that any trouble at the Portadown parade could ignite violence across the province. The security climate worsened last week when the Irish Republican Army, fighting to end British rule of Northern Ireland, killed two police officers in nearby Lurgan.
The marching season climaxes July 12 when tens of thousands of Protestants celebrate a 1690 victory over Irish forces.
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