SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams has held secret talks with the Orange Order in Portadown without first informing the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition or its chairman, Breandán Mac Cionnaith.
The talks, which were held in Belfast last week, are part of a new attempt to resolve the issue of parading in the Portadown area, although it is accepted no deal is possible ahead of Sunday week's contentious Drumcree parade.
The Parades Commission yesterday again banned Portadown Orangemen from making their return journey from Drumcree Church past nationalist homes on the Garvaghy Road on Sunday week.
Nonetheless, both Portadown Orangemen and Sinn Féin believe that the opening of dialogue between Mr Adams and the Portadown group creates possibilities for a future resolution of the issue.
Mr Adams and local Sinn Féin MLA John O'Dowd engaged in talks without first informing the Garvaghy Road residents or Mr Mac Cionnaith, who since 1995 has spearheaded local opposition to Orangemen parading along the Garvaghy Road.
Mr Mac Cionnaith confirmed to The Irish Times that the first he heard of the secret meeting was yesterday. He said his relations with Sinn Féin were "cordial" and that the meeting was a matter between Sinn Féin and the local Orangemen.
"I am not concerned," said Mr Mac Cionnaith. "This week we presented the Parades Commission with a local survey showing that 85 per cent of nationalists believed that there are alternative routes for the Orangemen to parade along other than Garvaghy Road."
