Portadown Orangemen's call for "spontaneous and sporadic" protests in support of the Drumcree standoff failed yesterday as normal life continued in Northern Ireland. Shops and businesses remained open and only a few roads were blocked for a short period.
Even in Portadown, the protests were low-key. Around 200 protesters travelled across the town, holding pickets at several venues in Portadown. On each occasion, they remained on the pavement and made no attempt to block the road. Among the protestors was Portadown district master Mr Harold Gracey.
Several roads in Belfast were blocked in support of the protest, including the Black's Road in the south of the city and the Crumlin, Ballysillan, Westland and Oldpark Roads in north Belfast. In some cases, there were only a dozen protesters, mainly women and children. Most of the arterial routes in the city remained unaffected.
Short pickets were also staged on the Dublin Road in Antrim, the Albert Road in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim and the Ballygawley roundabout in Co Tyrone. Meanwhile, the huge steel security barrier preventing Orangemen at Drumcree from marching down the Garvaghy Road was dismantled and taken away by the British army early yesterday.
A British army spokesman said troop levels at Drumcree had been decreased over the past couple of days but soldiers were at bases in the North ready to be redeployed within minutes if necessary. If there is no recurrence of disturbances, the additional 2,000 soldiers drafted in to deal with the situation will return to England in the next few days.
The split within the Orange Order appeared to be deepening yesterday, with several senior members supporting the call by the grand master, Mr Robert Saulters, for an end to the street protests.
The Belfast county grand master, Mr Dawson Bailie, said Mr Saulters had given necessary leadership. "Orangemen throughout the country have been asking for the grand master to give a lead. He has given a lead and I believe as we elected him and put him in that position we should be prepared to support him."
The Derry deputy grand master, Mr Dougie Caldwell, said his grand lodge was "a 100 per cent" behind Mr Saulters.
Members of Portadown District, however, seemed unprepared to soften their stance. The deputy district grand master, Mr David Burrowes, said peaceful protest had to continue and he challenged the Orange leadership to come up with a better idea. "We are the people down here, we are the people that are continuing the stand. It's no good saying we support something and then going and sitting back and doing nothing."
A senior Grand Lodge member, Mr David McNarry, accused Mr Saulters of "astonishing inconsistencies" and called for a special grand lodge meeting to take place as soon as possible for a "full and frank" debate on the situation. There was speculation that members of the Grand Lodge of Ireland would be meeting representatives of Portadown district last night to "read them the riot act". One source said the possibility of sanctions against Portadown LOL No1 could not be excluded in the long term.
Meanwhile, the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition has called on Portadown District to observe the Parades Commission's ban on their march, halt all Drumcree-related protests and avoid any actions which could be perceived as an incitement to breaking the law and heightening community tensions.
The residents' spokesman, Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, also called on the order to engage in direct talks both with the residents and with the South African mediator, Mr Brian Currin. Mr Mac Cionnaith has been told that charges against him relating to an incident in Portadown on July 1st, in which a police officer was assaulted, have been dropped.
Figures published by the RUC yesterday showed that since the start of the disturbances 10 days ago, there have been 330 attacks on the security forces, 13 of them shootings, with 88 RUC officers and six British soldiers sustaining injuries.