THE British government was preparing to send 1,000 extra troops to Northern Ireland last night, after an apparently abortive meeting between unionist leaders and the Prime Minister, Mr John Major, on the Drumcree crisis.
It is understood that Sir Patrick Mayhew, the Northern Ireland Secretary, sought the support of two extra battalions on the advice of the RUC Chief Constable, Sir Hugh Annesley. The reinforcements, which will take troop levels to 18,500, are expected to arrive by Friday, amid loyalist threats to "paralyse" the North.
The Rev Ian Paisley, Mr David Trimble and Mr Robert McCartney predicted an escalation of the crisis unless the chief constable's decision to reroute the Portadown march was reversed within 48 hours. Unless that happened, Dr Paisley predicted, loyalists would converge "fleet of foot" on Drumcree on the Twelfth, next Friday.
But a meeting between Mr Trimble and the leaders of the four main churches later today could be crucial to a resolution of the crisis, according to informed sources.
The Ulster Unionist leader confirmed his willingness to meet the churchmen on television last night, amid reports of ongoing mediation efforts involving Northern Ireland ministers and officials, other politicians and outside agencies.
A Downing Street spokesman said that Mr Major had made his support for the chief constable "abundantly clear" and insisted "there was no compromise on the table" at yesterday's meeting, which was also attended by the Rev Martin Smyth, grand master of the Orange Order.
The prime minister urged the unionist leaders to seek an accommodation which respected the sensitivities of both communities. But Mr Trimble's thoughts on a possible compromise seemed to extend only to the repetition of last year's climb-down by the authorities. Speaking after his meeting with Mr Major, Mr Trimble said: "The only solution is to bring the Orangemen home by the direct route, perhaps on the same terms as last year. But our immediate problem is, there is no one on the nationalist side we can talk to."
Mr Trimble said they faced an "appalling prospect" unless the situation was resolved within 48 hours. And Mr McCartney, leader of the United Kingdom Unionist Party, said the crisis was "escalating" all the time. "We indicated that you could have between 50,000 and 80,000 people ... and that the problem is going to grow and grow," he told reporters.
According to Dr Paisley's account, Mr Major gave no ground to the delegation. "The prime minister unfortunately believes that the chief constable did right, and until the prime minister changes that, I cannot see any resolution to what is going on."
Earlier yesterday in the Commons, Mr Major condemned the scenes of violence in recent days as "indefensible", and Mr Paddy Ashdown said it appeared that "ethnic cleansing" had once again returned to Northern Ireland.
A Buckingham Palace spokesman confirmed that Mr Trimble and his wife, Daphne, were on the guest list for last night's glittering state banquet in honour of President Nelson Mandela.