17 April 1997 Edition
Sinn Féin meets Parades Commission
A Sinn Fein delegation consisting of Bernadette O'Hagan, candidate for Upper Bann, chair of West Belfast Sinn Fein Denis Donaldson, and Belfast Councillor Sean McKnight, met with the Parades Commission on Wednesday 16 April.
Bernadette O'Hagan stressed that ``Sinn Fein accepts and will indeed uphold the fundamental democratic right of all people to parade.
``However, there is a heavy responsibility on those organising parades to ensure that by exercising their own rights they are not violating the democratic rights of others. We do not accept that the problems surrounding the parades issue are insurmountable. In our view dialogue is the key to all this. In the absence of dialogue it is impossible to reach an agreement of any sort.''
Bernadette O'Hagan stressed that ``Sinn Fein accepts and will indeed uphold the fundamental democratic right of all people to parade.
``However, there is a heavy responsibility on those organising parades to ensure that by exercising their own rights they are not violating the democratic rights of others. We do not accept that the problems surrounding the parades issue are insurmountable. In our view dialogue is the key to all this. In the absence of dialogue it is impossible to reach an agreement of any sort.''