IN THE BATTLES of peace there are some issues that cannot be resolved with ‘a bit for you and a bit for me’. The long-running Drumcree marching dispute is one such issue.

This morning, I rolled my eyes as I listened to a news clip of the Northern Ireland Secretary of State Sir Chris Bryant, newly appointed by fresh PM, Andy Burnham, recorded on Sunday night; to a few words in which he said: “We haven’t got a solution yet.”

He misses the point. He clearly doesn’t understand. Chris Bryant hasn’t been here long enough to grasp the complexities of these things.

British PM Andy Burnham (centre left) with his Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant (centre right) in Belfast in August. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

After 28 long years, there was permission for a much-reduced Orange parade – without bands and music – to pass along the Garvaghy Road in Portadown early on Sunday morning. It would have been the completion of the return leg of a parade blocked in 1998, but it didn’t happen.

Hundreds of protesters on the predominantly nationalist part of the route stood in its way – stood there from Saturday, through Sunday and into today.

As I watched the live television coverage and listened in, I thought about everything being on the line again – policing, politics, community relations and so much more.

I could also hear the........

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