PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
SECTARIAN MURDERS AND THE DRUMCREE PARADE (12 July 1998)

That this House expresses its profound condolences to the family of Richard, Mark and Jason Quinn and its total abhorrence of this brutal murder; condemns the wave of sectarian violence, intimidation, harassment, arson attacks on Catholic homes, schools and churches and assaults on security forces throughout Northern Ireland which have followed the Orange Order's defiance of the law at Drumcree; concurs with the view of the honourable Member for Upper Bann that 'the only way in which the Portadown brethren can disassociate themselves from these murders ... is to come down off the hill' and therefore urges the Orange Order to call off its illegal siege at Drumcree; and believes that where the majority of local residents object to an Orange Order parade through their area, frequently because they fear sectarian harassment or abuse, the dispute must be resolved by direct discussion between the elected representatives of the local residents and those wishing to conduct the march; and calls upon the Orange Order to embark on such a course of mutual respect and lawful negotiations with local residents rather than defiance of the law and the wishes of the local residents with potentially tragic consequences.

Sponsored by:
Mr Ken Livingstone (Independent)