JUSTICE Minister and Alliance Party leader Naomi Long has added her voice to the Drumcree dispute, saying that "maybe it's time for the Orange Order to walk away".
Speaking at Stormont today, she said "they've got their win in the courts. Let that be the end of it."
"Let's now move on and allow people to get back to their lives. People who are living in that area are now weary of this. They were fearful and are now weary," she said.
She continued, saying that "most people in Northern Ireland are incredulous that we're talking about Drumcree in 2026".
Speaking about the cost of the policing operation around the dispute and the absence of an agreed budget, Minister Long said that it is "really worrying" and that "anybody who cares about Northern Ireland will recognise very quickly that this is ratcheting up not just in the hundreds of thousands but in the millions now".
"We're talking about significant amounts of money both in terms of court time and in terms of police time, and in terms of the mutual aid that's been required," she said.
"Those officers who are out policing this dispute are the same officers who would be out investigating child sexual offences, investigating serious rapes, investigating murder, investigating all the other crime that affects people."
Referring to the dispute as "orchestrated chaos" that the police have to deal with, Minister Long said that she thinks "it is obviously to the detriment of everybody else in Northern Ireland".
"What I want to see is some kind of mediated outcome to this. We want to see a resolution."
