Welcoming the initiative, Ms Mowlam said: “The vast majority don’t want a repeat of last year and we must do all we can to avoid that and I will do all I can to encourage mediation.”The initial reaction from the Orange Order, however, was far from welcoming. It said: “The residents would be free to make a dignified lawful protest about the march, and the Orange Order would be free to make a similar dignified and lawful protest about the re-routing.”This would require no loss of face and no loss of principle by either side: both sides retain their dignity and nobody loses. Earlier this week the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, told the Commons that if necessary the army would be used to ensure that ports and airports remained open if attempts were made to close them.In a joint editorial yesterday the two Belfast papers suggested a two- year interim agreement, with one parade allowed to go through and another to be re-routed. The dining room has silk curtains which were sent to China to be hand-painted; the library boasts a 17th Century Flemish tapestry and the walls are adorned with comic drawings by Sir John Tenniel.Cost: Administered by a trust and paid for out of its former owner’s estate, though there are tax exemptions.. A novel joint initiative by Belfast’s two morning newspapers aimed at averting confrontation during the loyalist marching season yesterday drew a dusty answer from the Orange Order.

The Unionist News Letter and nationalist Irish News combined to advance a compromise plan to tackle the Order’s contentious July march along Portadown’s Garvaghy Road.
Last year widespread disturbances resulted when the RUC initially prevented Orangemen from walking along the road but later, after much disorder, reversed the decision and let the parade go through.Although the question of what will happen this year has occupied minds since last year, an agreed solution has yet to emerge. It is more modest than other ministers’ country houses with just nine bedrooms, four reception rooms and 200 acres of grounds. It was built in 1786-88 as a residence for the First Sea Lord, a role it performed up to the Second World War, when Sir Winston Churchill lived in it.Cost: pounds 723,000 in running costs in 1995-6.Dorneywood, Buckinghamshire.Chancellor’s country residence.Background: Parts are Queen Anne, though the house was rebuilt after a fire in 1910. The floors are marble, the spectacular circular staircase is “magnificent beyond dreams”, according to one MP, and the chimney-piece of the tapestry room is copied from one by Vanbrugh.Cost: Borne by a trust, though there are tax exemptions.Admiralty House, London.Three flats will be occupied by the Deputy Prime Minister, President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Defence.Background: The front of the building is on Whitehall, the back looks on to Horseguards’ Parade. In addition, pounds 1.5m was spent on a total refurbishment of the state rooms, which are used for official functions, between 1992 and 1994.Chevening House and Pleasure Gardens, Sussex.Foreign Secretary’s country residence.Background: Vast neo-Classical mansion built in 1630, set in 3,500 acres on the North Downs. Set in the Chilterns amid 1,250 acres, the estate was mentioned in the Domesday Book and is stuffed with works of art. Edward Heath, it is claimed, spent half a million pounds on garish wallpaper.Cost to the state: pounds 466,000 in the last financial year.1, Carlton Gardens, London.Foreign Secretary’s residence.Background: Once occupied by Prince Louis Napoleon, it was built in the 1820s, just off The Mall, and is one of the best examples of a John Nash terrace.Cost to the state: pounds 342,000 in 1995-6.

John Prescott is to move into Michael Portillo’s former flat in Admiralty House, and Margaret Beckett and the Secretary of State for Defence,George Robertson, will also live in the building.Mr Brown will live in Number 10 Downing Street while the Prime Minister and his family will live in the more spacious accommodation in Number 11. “Perhaps they could be used for holidays or for respite care.”Country joysChequers, Buckinghamshire.Prime Minister’s country residence.Background: Tudor mansion bequeathed to the nation in the 1920s. Mr Cook has already moved in to his official residence at Number 1, Carlton Gardens.Mr Flynn has other ideas, though: “I could think of 101 uses,” he said. Kenneth Clarke visited Dorneywood occasionally, but Norman Lamont spent almost every weekend there.The Foreign Secretary will use Chevening for meetings but will not spend time relaxing there.