Parades latest stumbling block to transfer of police powers

But despite Mr Brown’s exhaustive negotiations, relations between the parties hardened today with republicans accusing the DUP of trying to squeeze concessions on Orange Order parades before allowing a deal to go ahead.

Sinn Féin has accepted the Prime Minister’s financial offer, but the DUP has said action needs to be taken to secure unionist community confidence in the devolution of the powers.

Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson told the House of Commons this week that uncertainty over the future stewardship of loyal order parades in the North should be resolved ahead of a deal and he called for the scrapping of the Parades Commission which currently rules on controversial marches.

The removal of the Commission has been a long-standing unionist goal and Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams today accused the DUP of trying to make it a precondition of a deal on devolution.

“This is not a sincere, genuine or a serious effort to resolve the issue of Orange parades,” said Mr Adams.

“And any attempt to put the resolution of that issue in front of, and as a precondition for the transfer of policing and justice powers, is totally and absolutely unacceptable.”

The Parades Commission was established in the 1990s when clashes over loyalist parades passing through Catholic areas sparked widespread violence.

The Commission took decision-making out of the hands of police and set up a process for adjudicating on marches, including powers to reroute parades away from flashpoint areas.

The future of the Parades Commission has recently been considered by a review led by former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown.

He has proposed a mediation system for resolving disputes over controversial marches through dialogue, but the DUP and Sinn Féin are divided over the implementation of some of his recommendations.

Sinn Féin has said more work needs to be done on the legal and practical workings of any new system.

But today the DUP hit out at Mr Adams’s comments and said Sinn Féin was already aware of the hopes of Democratic Unionists to have the parades issue dealt with once and for all.

The DUP today said: “The comments made by Peter Robinson in the House of Commons are entirely consistent with the party manifesto.

“Our insistence upon community confidence before the devolution of policing and justice is a long-standing DUP policy.”

The party added: “It was Sinn Féin which tied parading to policing and justice when it insisted the party could not proceed with the Ashdown proposals until policing and justice was devolved.

“If Mr Adams is unhappy about the link, he can be unhappy with himself.”

Last year the Stormont government was disrupted for five months as a result of the dispute over policing and justice.

Sinn Féin pressed for the DUP to move on the issue following a commitment to do so in the St Andrews Agreement that paved the way for establishing the political institutions.

But the Democratic Unionists have said policing is a life and death issue and they will not move until the conditions are right.

The British, Irish and US governments have called for agreement on a final deal that will effectively see unionists and republicans share responsibility for the North's police and justice system for the first time.