Tensions increase at Drumcree
There is a warning in the North that loyalists are planning violent demonstrations against the decision by the Parades Commission to re-route this Sunday’s Orange parade away from the nationalist Garvaghy Road in Drumcree.
The North has come to a complete standstill on previous occasions when loyalists launched protests in the Portadown area and lives have also been lost.
Loyalist sources say that the decision to prevent the march from travelling along its traditional route has enraged the UDA, which had believed that it would be allowed through this year.
The breakaway LVF group is also reported to be planning to attack "legitimate targets" such as members of the RUC and Catholics.
The British army and the RUC have mounted barricades and barbed wire in the area to keep the two communities apart.
A South African lawyer, who is trying to mediate in the dispute, believes that the loyalists will get involved in this Sunday’s parade.
