Former DUP mayor of Derry Willie Hay has said unionists should focus on challenging the city's proposed name change rather than setting up a breakaway Waterside council.
His comments follow a proposal by the Independent Orange Order that a Waterside council should be established if the official name of the city is changed from Londonderry to Derry.
Mr Hay has agreed to attend a meeting organised by the order to discuss the issue at Derry's White Horse Hotel on May 29.
While he refused to dismiss the order's suggestion, Mr Hay said it was "more pressing" to discuss the name change issue "at this stage".
Similar proposals by unionists to set up a Waterside local authority in the 1970s were abandoned.
And with significant changes in Waterside demographics in recent decades, it is not clear if unionists would now control any authority that might be established.
Derry City Council adopted a joint Sinn Féin/SDLP motion in January calling for the beginning of moves to change the name of the city.
At the time unionists reacted angrily, although it is understood prior negotiations almost resulted in agreement between the SDLP and the unionist bloc.
The DUP had supported proposals allowing individuals to have the city referred to according to their own wishes – either Derry, Londonderry or Doire – on all official documentation.
But unionist councillors said they would not support a change to the official name – even if provisions were included for citizens to refer to the city in a manner of their own choosing.
The Derry city council motion called for full equality, community relations and legal provisions to be examined and a plebiscite held before any name change is made.
But the Independent Orange Order proposal – from the Mid Ulster District Lodge Number One – suggests the result of any plebiscite be examined to find if there was enough unionist support to split from the new Derry.
If so, the order proposes a separate authority could retain the Londonderry name and have autonomy in campaigning for allocation of resources.
But last night (Wednesday) Mr Hay said the priority among unionists "at the present" was on the name change issue and not on the establishment of a separate Waterside authority.
"We have held a number of high-level meetings with various bodies including the NIO and various groups across the city, including business and community organisations from the nationalist community," he said.
"The meeting with the Independent Orange is part of that process and we welcome all views. But our priority and energy at this stage is in protecting the name and the identity of the city's unionists."
