Senior Orangemen from Portadown have met the
leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady.
The meeting took place in Armagh on Thursday
night. It was the latest in a series of meetings between Portadown
Orangemen and other religious and political leaders and part
of their campaign to explain the issues surrounding the Drumcree
Parade.
Other meetings have been held with the DUP and
Ulster Unionists, the security minister Paul Goggins, the
Ashdown Committee on Parading and Archbishop Alan Harper,
Church of Ireland Primate.
The Portadown delegation consisted of Darryl
Hewitt, Portadown District Master, Deputy District Master,
David Jones, District Secretary, John Carrick, District Treasurer
and Alan Burns Committee Chairman.
Mr Hewitt said:
"Cardinal Brady has gone on record as saying that people
should make a bigger effort to understand the Orange tradition.
He has also condemned attacks on our Orange Halls.
"We wanted to meet the Cardinal and thank
him for his words, particularly his condemnation of the evil
and orchestrated attacks on our property. We also wanted to
explain the current impasse with the Drumcree Parade and once
again re-iterate that the Orange Order in Portadown is willing
to enter face to face talks with the Garvaghy Road residents
in an attempt to sort out the problem.
"Our sole, and we believe reasonable, condition
is that there should be an independent chairman.
"The Orange Order in Portadown has made
huge strides and taken brave decisions. We have received significant
backing from throughout Northern Ireland for the work that
has gone on behind the scenes.
"A solution for the Garvaghy Road issue
will remove one of Northern Ireland's long running problems
and we are certainly prepared to play our part.
"The meeting with Cardinal Brady was worthwhile
and very constructive."
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