This document records a phone conversation between British Prime Minister John Major and Taoiseach John Bruton that took place on 11 July 1996, following the RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] Chief Constable's decision to allow the Orange Order parade to pass Garvaghy Road, which reversed an earlier plan to re-route the march. Bruton expressed concern that the decision had been taken when the church leaders were still in the middle of negotiations to produce an agreement between the marchers and the residents of Garvaghy Road. Major contested this, saying that the decision had been taken only after it had become clear that they had not succeeded in their negotiations, one major reason for which was that those on the Orange Order side had refused to speak to the leader of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Association. Major defended the Chief Constable's decision, stating that if the stand-off had continued there was a major risk of loss of life. Bruton pointed out that it seemed as though the Government was not in charge of events, and that the RUC were being put in an impossible position, the consequence of which was that they were struggling to win the respect of the nationalist community. Major reasserted the importance of operational independence for the RUC, while Bruton repeated that the decision had been a political one, and that it had political consequences. Bruton said that he hoped Major would consider establishing an independent commission to look into marches and parades as soon as possible, and both leaders speculated that Sinn Féin would benefit from the upheaval. John Holmes, the author of the note, left a comment in which he mentioned that Paddy Teahon and himself had agreed on the press line for this conversation.
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