NATIONALISTS in Dungiven have warned they may reconsider their approach to an annual Orange Order parade after a minister called for a free food facility to be closed during the funeral of Queen Elizabeth.
Church of Ireland minister Rev Mark Loney caused controversy this week when he called for a Community Fridge, which encourages people to donate goods that are then redistributed, to be shut.
Sources last night said in light of this, some residents in the strongly nationalist town may reconsider an agreement that allows an annual Orange Order parade to take place.
It is understood it has been suggested organisers will now have to seek consent from locals before any future parade will be allowed to go ahead as normal.
An Orange Order procession in June, although marked sensitive, was not subject to a Parades Commission determination.
It is understood the parade, which involved up to 75 participants, assembled outside the Church of Ireland on Main Street before making its way to the nearby Presbyterian Church.
In the past Orange Order parades in the town have faced peaceful nationalist opposition. However, later processions passed off protest-free after agreement was reached.
Rev Loney, who is rector at Dungiven and Bovevagh Church of Ireland, wrote to Dungiven Regeneration Club (DRC) earlier this week urging the free food service to close.
In his email, the minister added that it was "something of a sore point" that two local businesses, including SuperValu, do not intend to close.
Details of the email emerged after it was revealed that Rev Loney's wife, Jo, has also contacted two businesses in the town asking if they intended to shut.
A spokeswoman for DRC later said the popular facility will be open as usual.
Rev Loney declined to comment last night.
Sinn Féin councillor Sean McGlinchey said he is hopeful tensions can be removed.
"This is the type of thing we don't want," he said.
"It's not the way forward. We have good relationships here and hopefully with these relations we will work our way forward."
Meanwhile, staff at a SuperValu branch who had vowed to defy an order to close during the queen's funeral have accepted a "compromise".
Musgrave NI, which owns the SuperValu brand, said its stores will be closed between 10.30am and 1.30pm on Monday.
In a fresh statement last night it said "the store will remain operational and staff who wish to continue to work on Monday can do so".
"This is the case for all Musgrave NI company owned stores," the statement added.
It is understood that although staff can continue to work, the store will not be open to customers.
Mr McGlinchey last night said staff members "have accepted it in good faith as a compromise".
"They never wanted it to get to this stage and they just want to move on and do their job and serve the community," he added.
