Nationalist parties’ reaction to proposals by the Secretary of State to resolve the parades’ dispute in north Belfast was “not constructive or respectful”, according to NI Conservatives’ spokesman, Mark Brotherston.
“Theresa Villiers has been forced to intervene on this issue because of the complete failure of parties at Stormont to find a solution”, Mark stated. “Yet the SDLP’s Alex Attwood feels it appropriate to boast that his party didn’t even have the decency to allow the Secretary of State to explain her proposals. That attitude is a bit rich, not to mention completely discourteous. You have to ask whether the SDLP and Sinn Féin actually want a solution to parades disputes or whether they’re content to use them as a pretext for political grandstanding.”
“Unlike the parties at Stormont, Theresa Villiers has made a genuine and constructive attempt to break the deadlock in north Belfast. Parades are a sensitive topic in Northern Ireland and they tend to rouse strong passions, but honest attempts to find a solution should be treated seriously and respectfully at least. If the political parties in the Executive were doing their job properly and attempting to govern in the interests of all of the people in Northern Ireland, they would be able to find a solution to intractable problems like this and the Secretary of State would not be asked to intervene.”