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| DUP in 'cultural apartheid' blast | DUP in 'cultural apartheid' blast |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The DUP's Nelson McCausland has accused the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition of trying to introduce "cultural apartheid" into Northern Ireland. | The DUP's Nelson McCausland has accused the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition of trying to introduce "cultural apartheid" into Northern Ireland. |
| Orangemen have been banned since 1997 from going down the mainly nationalist road after their Drumcree parade. | |
| Mr McCausland said residents "were trying to claim ownership of particular roads and say 'you cannot go there without our consent'". | Mr McCausland said residents "were trying to claim ownership of particular roads and say 'you cannot go there without our consent'". |
| "There is not other way to describe that but cultural apartheid," he said. | "There is not other way to describe that but cultural apartheid," he said. |
| However, Brendan MacCionnaith, spokesperson for the GRRC, said that Orangemen could take the same route back from the church as the one they take to get there. | However, Brendan MacCionnaith, spokesperson for the GRRC, said that Orangemen could take the same route back from the church as the one they take to get there. |
| He said that if there was going to be dialogue "then all the options had to be on the table". | He said that if there was going to be dialogue "then all the options had to be on the table". |
| "The right to freedom of assembly does not equate to an absolute right to march," he said. | "The right to freedom of assembly does not equate to an absolute right to march," he said. |
| Mr McCausland, Northern Ireland's Culture Minister, was speaking after a DUP delegation met the Parades Commission, which rules on contentious parades, on Thursday. | Mr McCausland, Northern Ireland's Culture Minister, was speaking after a DUP delegation met the Parades Commission, which rules on contentious parades, on Thursday. |
| In a statement the commission described the meeting as " a positive and useful exchange". | In a statement the commission described the meeting as " a positive and useful exchange". |
| "We urge everyone in a position of influence to promote and encourage dialogue in Portadown and wherever parades are disputed," it said in a statement. | "We urge everyone in a position of influence to promote and encourage dialogue in Portadown and wherever parades are disputed," it said in a statement. |
| "The Commission hopes that all parties in Drumcree will see the merit of dialogue and agree that it is the best way forward." | "The Commission hopes that all parties in Drumcree will see the merit of dialogue and agree that it is the best way forward." |
| Before 1998, attempts to ban the parade from going down the road resulted in loyalist rioting both in Portadown and across Northern Ireland. | Before 1998, attempts to ban the parade from going down the road resulted in loyalist rioting both in Portadown and across Northern Ireland. |
| However, when the 1998 march was forced through the Garvaghy Road it sparked republican rioting. | However, when the 1998 march was forced through the Garvaghy Road it sparked republican rioting. |