A potentially highly significant agreement that could have positive implications for the contentious marching season in the North has been thrashed out between a north Belfast nationalist residents' group and a loyalist body that includes members of the Orange Order.
The Parades Commission last night ruled that it need make no determination over Friday's annual Orange Order Tour of the North parade through north Belfast after the loyalist North and West Belfast Parades Forum (NWBPF) and the nationalist Ardoyne Parades Dialogue Group (APDG) arrived at their own resolution. The parade organisers had applied to the commission for permission to stage two feeder parades on Friday night past the Ardoyne shops which last July 12th was the scene of violence and rioting involving nationalists and the PSNI.
There was trouble at last year's Tour of the North parade and there were fears that there would be similar or worse violence at this Friday's parade through north Belfast, with Ardoyne shops the flashpoint.
Such is the incendiary nature of parades that both the NWBPF and the APDG last night acknowledged that there is no guarantee that Friday night will pass off without incident but they have resolved that the dialogue will continue to try to ensure that there can be nationalist-loyalist agreement over future contentious parades. The compromise for Friday night is that there will be one feeder parade by the shops led by one loyalist band, which will not play music, followed by members of two Orange lodges.
While representative bodies on both sides are anxious not to exaggerate the importance of this accommodation, potentially it could represent a breakthrough.
If the agreement for Friday night could serve as a template for Ardoyne and Whiterock in the coming weeks, then there is a chance that the most problematic element of the marching season might conclude relatively peacefully.
