Tension was high throughout Northern Ireland last night as fears grew that the coming week could see widespread demonstrations in support of the Orange Order protest at Drumcree and that these protests could lead to serious civil disorder.
There were road blockages and some violent incidents in loyalist areas in Belfast and other areas of Northern Ireland last night. In the city, about 50 youths threw bottles and stones at the RUC near the loyalist Sandy Row area. They erected barricades of wooden pallets and blocked the road for a time. The RUC fired a number of plastic bullets.
Petrol bombs were thrown at the RUC on the Lower Ormeau Road. The police returned fire with plastic bullets. At Lansdowne Road in north Belfast, burning cars blocked the road, while burning cars also blocked roads in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim.
In Drumcree itself, tension mounted as the standoff between police and Orangemen stretched into the night. Some 1,500 members of the Order settled down for the night in the vicinity of Drumcree parish church at Portadown, Co Armagh, preparing to sleep in tents and cars and vowing to remain there until they were allowed to march down the Garvaghy Road, despite nationalist objections and the prohibition announced by the Parades Commission. A marquee was being erected for those with no accommodation.
The security forces beamed arc lights onto the crowd in the field in front of the barrier, but RUC officers said other parts of the North were of greater concern. "Portadown is quiet because it is under control and it is the centre of focus," one officer said.
The Rev Ian Paisley left the scene at Drumcree church this morning after spending two hours in meetings with local Orange officials in a room attached to the church of Ireland parochial hall there. He visited Orangemen at the barrier and told them, to applause, that the Parades Commission should resign.
Given the security presence in Portadown and the scale and strength of the barrier at Drumcree, it is not considered physically possible for any group to break through to the Garvaghy Road. Yesterday two loyalists managed to breach the first line of the blockade before they were taken away by RUC officers.
Late last night, senior Ulster Unionist Party sources were unable to confirm a report in this morning's Daily Telegraph that the party leader, Mr David Trimble, has warned the British government that his position as First Minister will become untenable if the march is not allowed down the Garvaghy Road.
Mr Trimble told the Assembly on Wednesday that the march should proceed and the Parades Commission ban on it progressing down the Garvaghy Road was a "massive assault on the civil rights of an important sector of the community in Northern Ireland".
The Parades Commission is to announce fresh decisions today on a range of Orange parades. Its chairman, Mr Alistair Graham, warned last night that nationalists might be disappointed with some of the decisions, which gave rise to speculation that the controversial march through the nationalist Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast would be permitted.
Contact was maintained between the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, and the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, throughout yesterday. A Government spokesman would make no comment on developments last night, though it was clear they were being viewed with some apprehension.
Meanwhile, the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, has stressed he will not overturn the decision of the Parades Commission. "The march will not be forced down. It is our responsibility to uphold the law and it is our responsibility to enforce the lawfully binding decision of the Parades Commission."