HOPES of a compromise which would allow a loyalist march through the south Derry village of Bellaghy died early this morning.
With attitudes hardening, about 150 loyalist marchers continued to insist that the march be forced through the 300 nationalist protesters at the Northern end of the village.
Loyalists - separated from nationalists by a 100 yard no man's land created by the RUC - held their banners aloft and their bands played loyalist songs while nationalists settled under blankets and sleeping bags in the road.
The deputy Chief Constable of the RUC, Mr Ronnie Flanagan, held talks with the protesters after meeting the DUP MP Mr William McCrea.
Mr McCrea had earlier called the protesters "illegal rabble" and insisted the Black Preceptory was taking a legal route. He said Protestants had been forced out of their homes by sectarian nationalists.
It's a recipe for disaster that you allow an illegal rabble to decide who can move in this society," Rev McCrea said. "It should be forced through."
The impasse began at about 2:30 p.m. yesterday, when 120 members of the South Derry District Royal Black Chapter attempted to walk through the village. They turned back at an RUC cordon and went to the Church of Ireland church for a service. They said they would return.
Some 300 residents blocked the northern part of the village. Initial negotiations centred on whether the marchers would be allowed to march on the road or on the pavement.
An agreement appeared to be emerging and the RUC was expected to funnel a line of marchers along one pavement, allowing nationalists to march alongside. Between the two groups there would be a police line three deep.
However, there appeared to be a delay in implementing the deal. A large crowd of loyalist supporters gathered at the southern end of the village. RUC officers said two photographers were attacked and their equipment smashed by women in the crowd.
At 6.30 p.m. RUC officers in full riot gear approached nationalist protesters from both ends of the road. Residents' representatives told the crowd to remain calm. Ten minutes later, residents' representatives spoke to RUC acting Assistant Chief Constable Tom Craig and the RUC line then moved back a few paces.
A local priest, Father Andrew Dolan, appealed to the crowd to allow the march through. "I'm not here to justify the march at all. I'm just making a plea, and it's from the heart,"
The leader of the Black Preceptory marchers, Mr Robert Overend, came through RUC lines at 7.45 p.m. "We're a peaceful organisation," he said. "We're now trying to return home peaceably from church."
Mr Paul Smith, a negotiator for the residents. said the crowd would allow the marchers to return to their, cars on the pavement. They said there should be no bands, no emblems and no swords. The marchers were believed to be demanding a three foot corridor of road. One protester said: "I've been hemmed in my home six times since July. This is a chance to make a stand."
Mr Adams last night urged the RUC to stand up to the demands of the Preceptory, renewing his calls for "negotiation not domination".
On Saturday, the last of the major set piece demonstrations of the marching season passed off with relatively little violence at the weekend. Loyalists drew back from a confrontation over their traditional Apprentice Boys marching route along Derry's walls.
Mr Alistair Simpson, the Apprentice Boys of Derry governor, said the Apprentice Boys still planned to walk along Derry's walls but would not say when. There were some clashes between Apprentice Boys and the RUC in the city on Saturday but nothing on the scale that had been feared.
In Belfast, yesterday's Sinn Fein internment anniversary demonstration passed off peacefully. Republican demonstrators agreed to a re routing away from Protestant areas.