The tragic deaths of three small children may have transformed the politics of Northern Ireland. This terrible deed was only the latest in a series of vile acts carried out by extremists who latched on to the Orange Order protest at Drumcree.

When the protest began, it was dignified and disciplined. The people taking part were for the most part respectable country or townsfolk dressed in their Sunday best. As the Orangemen marched grimly down to the barricade erected by the security forces, a marshal sternly ordered reporters and camera crews off the road.

Alas, the young men with shaved heads and tattoos were not cleared away from the same spot when they arrived later on. They remained night after night to hurl firecrackers, Molotov cocktails and blast bombs at the police. There were several reports of shots being fired - with video footage to prove it, in one case.

The mood at the start of the protest was a determined one. There was an air of the risen people about the vast crowd, which embraced all ages and social classes. The face it presented to the world was one of men in bowler hats who would stay until the Twelfth of Never - never mind the Twelfth of July - to defend their liberties. But within a very short time, the hooligan element had come to dominate the headlines and television bulletins. Few who were present will ever forget the scenes at night: a medieval-style encampment on one side and futuristic ranks of riot police, attired like Robocop, on the other. One film buff said it was Barry Lyndon meets Apocalypse Now.

Even during the day, what was initially a cheerful and jovially defiant air became permeated with a sense of evil and threat. In my presence, a protester who was not wearing an Orange sash informed a member of the RUC across the Drumcree Canal, as the moat dug beside the barricade became known, that he would "cut the throats of his wife and children". At the barricade itself, thugs taunted soldiers with indecent homophobic jeers and suggestions. Now, other thugs - maybe even some of the same ones - have burnt three young children to death. This was only the latest in a lengthy series of arson attacks and it is a miracle that others have not died in similar circumstances in recent times.

The report of the three children's deaths - they were found in the foetal position - created a wave of grief that transcended the community divide.

It must have taken considerable courage for the Rev William Bingham to launch his appeal to his fellow Orangemen to scale down their protest. The Grand Master, Mr Robert Saulters, also had his date with history yesterday, although at the time of writing his efforts to defuse the situation appear to be winning him little thanks from the Portadown brethren.

"This was a tragedy waiting to happen," said the Progressive Unionist Party spokesman and newly-elected Assembly member Mr David Ervine last night. Doubtless, like every other intelligent observer, he knows the Ballymoney murders were only the tip of the iceberg of sectarianism in this part of the world. Perhaps the new administration, scheduled to emerge from the Assembly over the coming months, will set about the task of tackling that sectarianism. The problem has never really been approached in a determined cross-party fashion before but has largely been left to various quangos.

The joint efforts of the First and Deputy First Minister to resolve the Drumcree crisis over the past week may be an indication of a new style in Northern politics, where the common good comes before the immediate demands and interests of one's own community.

Meanwhile, there were calls for the proximity talks to resume. Saturday's encounter at the District Council Offices in Armagh City achieved little. Some preliminary work had apparently been done on a package which involved an Orange march later in the year along with a cash injection that would benefit the Garvaghy Road, one of the most deprived areas on the island. There was much bitter comment from nationalists after Saturday night's revelation that the Portadown District had lodged a fresh application for another march on the Garvaghy Road.

This move obviously did not enhance the atmosphere in the talks and it also generated a wave of apprehension on the Garvaghy Road itself.

I saw mothers of young families keeping vigil outside their homes, fearful, not so much of marching men in sashes as of other men in balaclavas coming to burn them out. The morning proved such fears were not unfounded. However, the application for a fresh march was quickly rejected by the Parades Commission. It seemed like an act of desperation. Insiders say the British government gained the clear impression from Mr Blair's meeting with them on Thursday that senior Orangemen wanted a way out but had left themselves with no exit strategy.

Yesterday afternoon at Castle Buildings, it is understood Mr Mallon and Mr Trimble made clear to the order's leadership in the Grand Orange Lodge of Ireland that the protest should be stopped and people should go home. However, expectations that Mr Saulters would issue a joint statement in the afternoon with the First and Deputy First Ministers came to nothing.

Mr Saulters was instead reported to be heading for Portadown where the mood among ordinary brethren was described as one of despondency and disillusion with the leadership. Being Grand Master of the Orange Order these days is a tough job.