NI: Parades Commission compromised by Blair
01 March 1998
The Parades Commission, established last year following the publication of the North Report on contentious Orange marches, has been plunged into crisis by the direct intervention of British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the resignation of two of its most recent appointees. Of the thousands of parades each year, only a handful are contentious. The Commission was set up to make rulings on parades, thus providing a civil element for decisions in this area and relieving political pressure on the RUC Chief Constable. This has been intense, particularly regarding the Orange Order march from Drumcree church down the Catholic Garvaghy Road, Portadown, in early July each year. The Chief Constable, however, retains ultimate authority and can still override a Commission ruling in the interests of law and order.
In February, four new appointments were made to the Commission (which is chaired by retired trade unionist Alistair Graham) to cover resignations and to bring it up to strength. The appointments became controversial because the British government rejected a candidate proposed by the Irish government (it has become common to invite such recommendations) and appointed a former loyalist paramilitary (UDA) leader, Glen Barr, and a member of the Apprentice Boys (one of the Loyal Institutions), Mr Cheevers. The two Catholic appointees were criticised because one has acted professionally for the Police Federation and the other served on the Police Authority. The alleged lack of balance in these appointments was already the subject of a judicial review action.
The Parades Commission announced some time ago that it would publish its preliminary recommendations for the summer "marching season" in March. It has no statutory obligation to do this but must give five days notice of any decision on a particular parade/march. The launch date was then shifted to late April but hours before publication of the 7,000 word report, the Commission changed its mind after Blair personally contacted the Chairman. Reportedly, Blair thought the report might "overload the public system" at a very sensitive time following the Multi-Party Agreement.
Blair's action came after the Ulster Unionist Party leader David Trimble was tipped off that the interim report recommends that the Drumcree parade should be re-routed away from the Garvaghy Road. Trimble contacted Downing Street to complain and Blair moved immediately to have the report withheld. The report may also have been pulled in order to prevent threatened resignations. While Glen Barr denied he had any intention of resigning, he and Cheevers did so within 24 hours of the cancellation of the report's publication.