OVER 150 people from a Protestant background in the North of Ireland have penned a letter urging the Orange Order to end the Drumcree parade stand-off.
The letter signed by Protestant ministers, writers, commentators and others was published just hours before talks to find a solution to the impasse collapsed last night.
In an open letter to Secretary of State Chris Bryant and Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Helen McEntee the signatories describe themselves as a group of “concerned individuals from a Protestant background”.
The letter is signed by people including Rev Karen Sethuraman, Bill Shaw, Linda Ervine and Linzi McLaren.
"We write as a group of concerned individuals from a Protestant background. We hold a wide range of views on politics, faith and identity, and no single label captures our diversity. But we are committed to our shared society, and we feel compelled to speak publicly about what is happening in Portadown," they say.
"We value the peace and progress built since the 1998 Agreement. We want our children and grandchildren to inherit a future free from the anguish of the past, and we are anxious that some now seem willing to reopen old wounds.
"While we recognise that the Portadown District LOL regard Drumcree as unfinished business, we are distressed by the trauma that is being visited on the residents of the Garvaghy Road after 28 years of calm. This is a community that has suffered deeply and still lives with the legacy of the parading disputes of the 1990s, which cost lives and left lasting scars.
"Many of us have family and friends for whom parading is a valued tradition, and some of us have been directly involved ourselves. We recognise its importance to many in our community. The vast majority of loyal order parades take place each year without restrictions – an outcome enabled by agreements and arrangements reached after exhaustive efforts. All of that is now being called into question, with potentially devastating consequences far beyond Portadown.
"We appeal to the Orange Order to look towards the bigger picture and bring this impasse to an end in the interests of our entire community.
"We urge the British and Irish Governments to act together and without delay: to restore stability, to ensure that the parading framework is robust and trusted, and to spare the residents of the Garvaghy Road a return to the fear they endured for so many summers."
The letter adds: "This is a time when all of us committed to a better future have a responsibility to raise our voices to protect peace, progress and a shared society free from sectarianism.
"We must avoid the abyss we are currently staring into. For the future of our children and grandchildren, we cannot go backwards."
