Talks aimed at resolving the Drumcree parade dispute have broken up without agreement, while the Garvaghy Road residents have temporarily postponed their court case challenging the parade.
It was due to have been heard in Belfast's Court of Appeal tomorrow, but the court case has been pushed back to Monday.
The residents had lodged a further appeal against the Parades Commission determination that said 35 Orangemen could walk along the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.
It is believed the decision was taken to allow space for mediation, which took place this evening.
British Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Chris Bryant said talks over the Drumcree dispute are between a "rock and a hard place".
Mr Bryant said: "This is the end of these conversations.
"We haven't come to a settled agreement and it's a shame but my door remains open obviously, tomorrow and in future days."
He said those gathered "discussed a wide range of options, including mediation, including an option where the right to march was respected but wasn't exercised, including an option where there was a final march and no further applications for marches into the future, and we've not managed to come to agreement on any of all that."
He added that he believes "keeping conversations going and the dialogue going is a really important part of coming to a resolution for everybody".
"There's a court case on Monday. Obviously, we'll have to see how that plays out," he said, adding: "I would say that the law, in the end, is the law."
Breandán Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, told reporters Mr Bryant wants residents and the Orange Order to reach agreement but contended that "the reality is" there is "no such thing as half a march".
He said: "There's a march, or there's not a march - simply that.
"We've made a share that our community has not given us any mandate to speak about a march."
Mr Mac Cionnaith said it was "not possible" to get a "meeting of minds" in the talks.
Asked if the talks had run their course, he said: "For the time being, yes."
Mr Mac Cionnaith added: "They may want to re-embark upon another process at some stage, but the current process is done."
A representative of the Orange Order has said the dispute "remains as it has been".
He said: "Tonight remains as it has been: That we are in possession of a positive determination issued by the Parades Commission.
"It went through the Court of Appeal and the High Court sat on it and has decided that we have the right to walk down the Garvaghy Road back to Carleton Street Orange Hall, and I would now call on the Secretary of State to apply the law."
Adviser to the Orangemen and loyalist activist Jamie Bryson said the Orange Order will accept the determination of a legal appeal on Monday.
Mr Bryson also asked residents of Garvaghy Road to commit to walking away if their appeal fails.
He said: "The challenge that we would put down to the Garvaghy Road residents - they're going to the Court of Appeal on Monday - if the Court of Appeal upholds this determination, commit to accepting the law and walk away, and we'll do the same.
"If we lose, we'll accept that.
"We have followed the legal process all along.
"So if we lose substantively and the Court of Appeal sets the Parades Commission's decision aside, we'll accept that because we've abided by the law at all times - they haven't."
Shortly after 8pm this evening, a delegation from the Orange Order arrived at Hillsborough Castle and just before 9pm the Garvaghy Road delegation arrived for the talks with Mr Bryant.
Mr Dawson, speaking ahead of the discussions, said there are "no talks" and that a document proposed at Hillsborough Castle did not move the Drumcree stand-off forward at all.
"When I went down, there was a discussion document shown to me, it was not a proposal. It was very much an opening document," he said.
Mr Dawson said he read the document and "there was nothing that moved the situation forward at all".
He said the document has now been removed from the table.
He said the Orange Order gave commitments not to disclose the contents of the document, as they saw it as a "private document in the hands of the Northern Ireland office".
"I abide by the commitments that I gave, and it is unfortunate that others haven’t," he added.
"We need to be clear, there was nothing on offer, this was a document with some ideas, suggestions, in no way could it be described as a proposal," he said.
He said it was a paper of which could have furthered the discussion but added "there was nothing in that document that you could progress at any level".
Mr Dawson said there are currently "no talks", but that the Orange Order is available.
"I have made that crystal clear, that we are available to go at any time, to further the discussions, to get a final resolution to this problem," he said.
Mr Dawson said his meeting with Mr Boutcher was "good" and that it was the first time that he had met him.
He said they exchanged their views and the positions of both organisations in a "respectful way".
Mr Dawson said they left on good terms, but with the same line previously held that he has a "positive determination for Portadown District and the chief constable has to apply the law".
'No change' in residents' position - Mac Cionnaith
Earlier Mr Mac Cionnaith, of the Garvaghy Road Resident Coalition, said there was no change in his position ahead of further meetings this evening over the Drumcree dispute.
Just before 5pm, Mr Mac Cionnaith told those gathered on the road in Portadown that he was setting off for talks.
"We only got notified about this a short while ago. I don't know what time we'll get back from there yet tonight, it might be possible for us to brief you at that time, but it could be 10pm, it could be 12 o'clock.
"No matter what you hear, our position remains the same. There is no change in our position so hopefully we'll get tonight over and there isn't far to go."
Meanwhile, the policing operation around the Drumcree parading dispute has topped £3 million so far, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has said.
Mr Boutcher faced questions about the policing operation at the Northern Ireland Policing Board on day five of the impasse.
A major policing operation was put in place at the weekend when a court challenge to a determination by the Parades Commission to allow the Drumcree parade to proceed along the Garvaghy Road failed.
Situation in Portadown remains 'challenging and complex'
While the visible policing presence has since reduced, Mr Boutcher described the situation in Portadown as "remaining challenging and complex", but said despite very significant tensions, there has been no violence and nobody has been injured.
He said the cost of the policing operation has been £3 million thus far, but warned of the consequences and cost "if they get it wrong".
He contended the consequences of police forcing an Orange Order march down the Garvaghy Road "could be catastrophic" for Northern Ireland.
"The parade could not safely be facilitated on Sunday 27 September, because of an unnotified protest that blocked the route. Officers repeatedly engaged with those involved and issued warnings," he said.
"We considered a range of options, but assessed that the use of force required to clear the road risked serious harm and an escalation into disorder. That would not have been proportionate."
Mr Boutcher also made it clear there will be "consequences" for those who blocked the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.
He added that investigations into law breaking are "well under way" and will be "expedited".
The chief constable said he does not currently believe it is necessary to ask the secretary of state to review the Parades Commission determination over Drumcree.
Mr Boutcher was asked at the Policing Board why the intervention of Mr Bryant had not been sought.
"The board simply needs to be reassured that I am constantly reviewing that position," he said.
"But at this stage, it is my judgment that that is not necessary.
"We are creating the time to resolve this, and that is in the interests of everyone."
Talks involving the Orange Order and Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition are set to resume later, with Mr Bryant returning to the region in hopes of a resolution.
Large crowds maintain presence on Garvaghy Road
Crowds continue to gather on the Garvaghy Road, including former Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams.
There were also performances by bands, including Dundalk based folk music group the Mary Wallopers.
The protesters were told to "keep her lit" and that they were doing important work. The band played for over an hour to a large crowd.
Mr Bryant had been involved in talks since Monday and proposed a document for discussion in a bid to break the impasse.
He left the region for an engagement in England but is expected to return to Co Down later to continue the process on the fifth day of the dispute.
Yesterday, after hours of talks around Mr Bryant's proposed paper, Breandán Mac Cionnaith from the residents group said they would back it if the Orange Order did.
However, DUP Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart told the Press Association in Portadown last night that the proposed deal was "not acceptable".
The Portadown District of the Orange Order wants to complete its traditional route for the first time in almost 30 years after the Parades Commission ruled that the parade should be allowed along the Garvaghy Road.
Tánaiste Simon Harris told the Dáil that a return to the divisions of the past in Northern Ireland is "unthinkable", and he urged those involved in the Drumcree dispute talks to "find a way forward".
He said it was a not a "green versus orange" issue, but whether people want to go forwards or backwards.
"The Irish Government will be involved at all levels and at the highest level in relation to this ongoing tense and concerning issue.
"In many ways this isn't simply a green versus orange issue. It's actually an issue between whether people want to go forwards or backwards, and we all want to move forwards," he said.
Sinn Féin leader Mary-Lou McDonald said it is "critical" that there is no Orange Order march on the Garvaghy Road.
"I think all of you have witnessed the level of disruption, distress that has occurred, even at the prospect of that," she said.
"The community itself has been absolutely crystal clear. They wish to live in peace. They will not tolerate sectarian harassment or bullying, or intimidation."
Ms McDonald slammed who she termed as "disruptive wreckers to try and set that clock back".
She said those residents opposed include a 93-year-old woman who she said came to live on the Garvaghy Road after Catholic and nationalist families were burnt out of other areas.
She added that she wished the talks "fair speed and fair wind", but said a conclusion "needs to be brought".
"And the answer to this is to make absolutely clear that there will be no orange march on the Garvaghy Road.
"If the talks can arrive at that, that's great but remember, if not, the British secretary of state has the power under the 1998 Parades and Processions Act to simply put a stop to this march, and that's what he should do," she said.
The Policing Board also heard earlier of an investigation into whether Sinn Féin board member Deirdre Hargey has breached the board's code of conduct by allegedly taking part in a protest on the Garvaghy Road.
However, board chairman Brendan Mullan permitted Ms Hargey to remain in the meeting.
DUP board member Trevor Clarke requested at the start of the meeting that Ms Hargey be excluded because she had been at an "unlawful assembly" on the Garvaghy Road, and that there is a "clear conflict of interest" in her remaining while the Drumcree dispute is discussed.
Mr Mullan said it was his view that all political representatives have an interest in the matters unfolding on Garvaghy Road, but that their "interest is not in conflict with their role as a board member".
He contended Ms Hargey would be conflicted if she raised questions in relation to prosecutions arising from the protest, but given it is an ongoing police operation, no member should raise questions regarding specific prosecutions, adding: "therefore no conflict arises".
Additional reporting Conor Macauley
