MILITARY and RUC operations to counter widespread loyalist disruption are being prepared in anticipation of a breakdown in talks which begin today to try to avert another Drumcree standoff.
It is understood the British army has been training troops in England to counter road-blocks and rioting. They will be on stand-by to come to Northern Ireland if needed.
The preparations are being put in place in the light of reports that loyalists have been drawing up plans for widespread civil disorder along the lines of last year's week-long blockade of Northern Ireland during the Drumcree standoff.
Reports in Belfast suggest sections of the Orange Order have been discussing plans to barricade roads and to bring the North to a standstill if the Portadown Orangemen are prevented from marching along Garvaghy Road on Sunday week.
No comment was available from the Grand Orange Lodge in Belfast yesterday, but it is reported that sections of the order are planning disruption.
It is known that district Orange lodges have made multiple applications for marches on a daily basis from now until the marching season climaxes on July 12th. In north Belfast alone there have been applications for more than 30 marches. Most of these will be within Protestant areas, but some will inevitably encroach on Catholic localities.
Against this background the Northern Ireland Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, is today hosting proximity talks at Hillsborough Castle between the Garvaghy Residents' Coalition and the Armagh Orange Lodge. Under the arrangements, the two sides will occupy separate parts of the same building, with a senior Northern Ireland Office official braising between them.
In its first statement last night, the Government welcomed the initiative and noted the British government's assurance that it was not seeking to impose a pre-determined outcome. It hoped both sides would engage constructively in the talks and said the paramount objective must be to secure a local accommodation on Drumcree.
The Armagh lodge said it was approaching the talks with an open mind. The Garvaghy group said its position remained that the march should not be allowed down Garvaghy Road and it also wanted face-to-face talks with the Orangemen. The Orange Order has said it will not meet people it says are connected to Sinn Fein.
The talks are the last-ditch attempt for agreement.
The Rev Ian Paisley said the Orangemen must be allowed parade.