Drumcree parade passes off quietly

The Orange Order parade at Drumcree in Co Armagh passed off quietly yesterday amid a low-profile security presence.

The Protestant loyal order had been banned from parading from the church at Drumcree along the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

The security operation to block the road at Drumcree has in previous years been the scene of violent confrontation on the long-running stand-off preceding the annual parade before the 12th of July.

The Orangemen held a brief religious service at the security gate and voiced their protest at the Parades Commission decision to ban the parade from the Garvaghy Road.

They pledged to continue their protest every Sunday until the matter was resolved.

While the security presence at the gate was low-key and officers did not wear riot gear, reinforcements were strategically placed at nearby flashpoints and were on stand-by.

The Drumcree parade was allowed to proceed down the Garvaghy Road amid protests by local residents in 1998, since then the Parades Commission has not permitted the Orange Order to proceed back to Portadown by the "traditional route" favoured by the local lodge members.

This resulted in violent scenes as loyalists attacked security forces entrenched behind a massive security barrier at the roadway near the church that leads to Garvagy Road.

(SP/KMcA)