The numbers at the Drumcree standoff had decreased to about 300 early today in the aftermath of the murder of three young brothers in the Ballymoney arson attack and as a result of moves by politicians and some Orange leaders to have the protest called off.
Groups of youths attempted to breach the security barrier erected across the Garvaghy Road early this morning, but no arrests were made. Police fired a number of plastic bullets when they were attacked with petrol-bombs and other missiles. None of the Orangemen attempted to restrain the youths, one of whom was applauded by the crowd after being struck by a plastic bullet.
The DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, visited Drumcree last night and called on Orangemen elected to the Northern Assembly to stand together.
Earlier yesterday, only about 500 Orangemen paraded at Drumcree parish church for the traditional Twelfth celebration.
In Belfast, the Grand Master of the Orange Order, Mr Robert Saulters, said that Drumcree would "probably quieten down into a Greenham Common-type protest", although he did not know how long it would last.
However, the Portadown Orangemen have repeated that they are determined to continue their protest.
Two men were being questioned last night after RUC raids yesterday on houses in the Carnany Estate in Ballymoney, where the three Quinn brothers - Richard (11), Mark (10) and Jason (9) - were burned to death in a petrolbomb attack on their home early on Sunday.
Northern Ireland's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, yesterday visited the home of the grandmother of the murdered boys and conveyed his condolences to their mother.
The three boys will be buried after Requiem Mass in nearby Rasharkin later today. The boys' grandmother, Mrs Irene Quinn, said that their mother would never return to Ballymoney.
In Belfast, the first Orange parade for two years through the Catholic Lower Ormeau area passed off peacefully. There was only a light police presence and residents stood in silence as the parade passed. They held black flags and placards bearing the words "Parade of Shame".
At Pomeroy in Co Tyrone yesterday there were scuffles between Orangemen after members of the Spirit of Drumcree group heckled the Rev William Bingham, the Order's Deputy Grand Chaplain. In a sermon on Sunday Mr Bingham called for an end to the Drumcree protest.
The main Orange parade in Belfast yesterday was unusually subdued, partly due to the heavy rain. Mr Saulters told the gathering that the Portadown Orangemen had been told at last Saturday's abortive proximity talks that they "might get down the road at a later date, maybe in September".
The deputy leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, Mr John Taylor, has called on the Portadown Orangemen to talk to the Garvaghy Road residents in the same way as the DUP chose to sit in the new Assembly with Sinn Fein.
At Crumlin, Co Antrim, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, the anti-agreement Ulster Unionist MP, called for the creation of a new united unionist movement. He said: "The sense of defeat within unionism is palpable. We lack self-confidence and seem to work to an agenda which is about the management of decline within a political framework which is set by pannationalism."
In Newry, the security forces yesterday defused a 500lb bomb, the second large bomb in two days to be made safe.