Six RUC officers were injured when loyalist demonstrators attacked police with fireworks, bottles and stones at Drumcree church in Portadown, Co Armagh last night. Over 1,000 protesters gathered at the church in support of the Orange Order's demand to be allowed walk along the Nationalist Garvaghy Road.
RUC spokesmen said last night their members had been subjected to a barrage of firework rockets for more than three hours. Police said masked men were spotted gathering missiles among the crowd of demonstrators. Officers fired one plastic baton round at what the RUC described as "an identified rioter". None of the six policemen were hurt seriously. Three other people were treated in hospital for minor injuries and were later discharged.
Protesters began arriving in the Portadown area shortly after 9 p.m. yesterday. A number of demonstrators started firing missiles at the police just before 10 p.m. Within an hour, a section of the crowd broke off and attacked a garage on the Dungannon Road, breaking windows and damaging cars. The demonsrators attempted to hijack a lorry, but were stopped by police at the scene.
Extra police and units of the British Army were drafted into the area to prevent any attempt by the Orangemen and their supporters to push forward into the Garvaghy Road. The violence was the most serious since July of this year when hundreds of Orangemen and their supporters converged on Drumcree.
One Orangeman said last night "We will stay at Drumcree and we intend to get down that road. If the Grand Lodge won't give us the leadership we require then we will take matters into our own hands".
On the nationalist Garvaghy Road estate many residents expressed their fear that the Orangemen will attempt to force their way down road before the end of the year.
Local Sinn Fein assembly member Ms Dara O'Hagan said: "People here tonight are petrified. It is ridiculous that this situation has been allowed to continue since July.The Orange Order is engaged in a deliberate attempt to escalate the tension in this area. The authorities, and by that I mean the Northern Ireland Office, should now step in to end this situation".