Northern Secretary Peter Hain has declared that the UVF is no longer on ceasefire as Orange Order leaders gather in Belfast today to respond to claims that they bore a major responsibility for triggering loyalist violence.
From midnight last night Mr Hain "specified" the Ulster Volunteer Force and its sister organisation, the Red Hand Commando, which means, he ruled, that they had breached their cessations.
He took his decision because of the UVF's involvement in the disturbances during and after the controversial Orange Order Whiterock parade on Saturday and because of the organisation's killing of four people since July in the UVF-LVF feud.
"There is no change to the status of other specified organisations," said Mr Hain, which means he still accepts that the UDA is observing its ceasefire even though it was also involved in recent violence, but to a lesser extent than the UVF.
Meanwhile, loyalist street protests caused further traffic disruption in Belfast yesterday, but not to the same degree as on Monday. Belfast and flashpoint towns around the North remained tense last night, but a UDA statement ordering an end to the disturbances raised some guarded hopes that the violence might diminish or end.
"We are instructing our own membership to avoid any confrontation on the streets and steer away from any acts of violence," the UDA said yesterday, a statement that may have been a factor in Mr Hain not specifying that organisation.
Orange Order leaders, who were censured by PSNI chief constable Sir Hugh Orde, the British and Irish governments, the US administration, the Parades Commission and several political parties are holding a press conference on the Shankill Road this morning to try to deal with that criticism.
The order was accused of being complicit and directly involved in the violence after the controversial Whiterock parade in west Belfast on Saturday.
The refusal of the Belfast head of the order, Dawson Bailie, to condemn the violence prompted further condemnation.
Orange Order member the Rev Brian Kennaway said it was "diabolical" that Mr Bailie had not condemned the violence.
He predicted that several Orangemen would resign from the body because of the violence and how the order was dealing with the parades issue.
Many businesses again closed early yesterday in Belfast for fear of further violence. The Translink bus company, which sustained damage to its vehicles costing at least £500,000 to repair, withdrew services yesterday afternoon to loyalist areas of Belfast.
The violence that has gripped Belfast and other parts of the North since Saturday has cost many millions more.
The trouble through Monday night and into yesterday morning was serious, but not on the same sustained, concentrated scale as at the weekend.
More than 60 people have been arrested so far following the rioting.
At least 60 PSNI officers and scores of rioters and people innocently caught up in the disturbances were injured. Many others lost their vehicles or saw their houses or businesses burnt out or badly damaged.
The violence has been occurring against the background of an understanding that IRA decommissioning has already begun.
Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams is travelling to Washington today to meet state department officials, US senators and congress members.
At the weekend he will speak at the launch of the Clinton Global Initiative at the invitation of former president Bill Clinton.
