Orangemen today gathered for their annual Drumcree parade which was banned from proceeding down the nationalist Garvaghy Road for the ninth year in a row.
Amid unprecedented low-key security, the event passed without incident. The last time Orangemen walked on the Garvaghy Road was in 1997.
Today they left Carleton Road Orange Hall in Portadown, Co Armagh at around 10.20am. Supporters gathered in the town centre to see the Orangemen off on their journey to Drumcree Church for their annual Battle of the Somme service.
The marchers were led by the Edgarstown Accordion Band.
Portadown District Master Darryl Hewitt demanded the resignations of Parades Commission chief Roger Poole and its Protestant members after around 400 Orangemen were blocked for the Garvaghy Road.
He told the marchers: "Once again we are disappointed by the negative determination from that unaccountable body, the Parades Commission.
"This is even more the case when we remember both the public and indeed private utterances of the Secretary of State (for Northern Ireland, Peter Hain) who promised us in Portadown and the wider Orange family that this is a new commission with new ideas and a new urgency on parading.
"However I have in my possession the same old no determination from a 'No Parades Commission'.
"The call must go out today from this platform and indeed from Drumcree Hill for so-called Protestants who are members of the 'No Parades Commission' to back their culture, heritage and traditions or else do the honourable thing and resign from this biased, discriminatory anti-parading body."
Portadown Orange spokesperson David Jones disputed claims that the parade was no longer attracting the number of supporters that it once boasted. "I do not know where that is emanating from," he said. "In the past we invited other Orange lodges from across the jurisdiction.
"However we have since returned to what this was — a district parade."
Mr Jones said they were again disappointed to be barred by the Parades Commission from walking down the Garvaghy Road.
"We are still waiting and are willing to take part in any talks that might take place," he said. "As far as the Parades Commission is concerned, there were some hopeful sounds from them earlier on in the year but as time drew on, with the court cases involving the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition, nothing has happened.
"We feel that the Garvaghy Road residents should no longer have a veto over this parade. We want to get this resolved as soon as possible."