Senior Orangemen in Drumcree have pledged to continue the fight to walk their traditional route down the nationalist Garvaghy Road but appealed to their supporters to keep protests peaceful.
Following the annual church service in Drumcree Parish Church in remembrance of the battle of the Somme, around 1,000 Orangemen, their numbers down on previous years, made their way to the massive steel and concrete barrier erected by the British security forces to prevent them from entering the nationalist area.
Having reached the barrier, the Portadown Orange District Secretary, Mr Nigel Dawson, addressed a senior RUC officer, calling on him to "remove this great obscenity and let us make our way back to the Orange Hall by the route we have taken for over 200 years".
The Orangemen then turned back to be addressed by the Grand Master of the Orange Order of Ireland, Mr Robert Saulters, and by the Portadown District Master, Mr Harold Gracey.
Mr Gracey pleaded with supporters to "please, please keep this protest peaceful".
Paul Tanney adds: More than 500 Orangemen and supporters stayed on Drumcree hill until the early hours of this morning. Stones, bottles and fireworks were thrown, along with as many as six petrol bombs. Security sources said the violence was of a more minor nature and less organised than in previous years.
In Belfast, three cars were set on fire at Dunmurry on the south-western outskirts. The RUC last night said they had sporadic reports of children and youngsters blocking roads in Belfast but disruption to motorists was minimal.