The Orange Order has again been prohibited from marching from Drumcree church along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh.
The decision was announced by the Parades Commission, which rules on contentious marches throughout the North's marching season.
The order has been banned from completing its parade from its church service back to the lodge in Portadown since 1998 amid fears of civil unrest and because residents affected had not been consulted.
The commission said there continued to be a strain on community relations in the area and added: "The commission has cause to believe that should the parade process the entirety of its notified route, there will be an adverse effect on community relations and a potential for public disorder."
The Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition welcomed the decision, as did Sinn Féin. The coalition said that in the absence of "any genuine dialogue" between marchers and residents, the commission could not have done anything other than arrive at the same conclusion it has reached for the last number of years.
In a statement it said: "The reality is that there has been no process of dialogue or mediation in relation to the Drumcree issue since the closure of the process chaired by Brian Currin at the end of 2001." The statement was released as rumours circulated of an attempt to broker an end to the annual turbulence at the Drumcree church parade.
The residents further stated: "If there has been any form of discussions in recent times, as some media reports suggest, then they have clearly been discussions from which the GRRC were deliberately excluded. It is also interesting to note that the Parades Commission has stated . . . that it is 'unaware of any meaningful engagement having taken place with representatives of the local community'. "
However, an Orange Order source told The Irish Times last night of an initiative to end the impasse.
The source was aware of an exchange of ideas between the local lodge in Portadown and residents which was in contravention of the standoff policy operated by the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland.
The Irish Times has been told of the existence of a document which outlines a possible settlement to the ongoing dispute. Repeated attempts to contact Mr BreandáMac Cionnaith of the Garvaghy residents last night proved unsuccessful.
Mark Hennessy writes:
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, will meet the Ulster Unionist leader, Mr David Trimble, in London tomorrow after Mr Ahern has had discussions with the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair.