Deadlock as Orangemen have their Alamo at Drumcree

LAST year it was called the siege of Drumcree. This year it's Ulster's Alamo, as the district Orange master, Mr Harold Gracey, described it.

The Rev Ian Paisley, however, warned that this year it was not just the siege of Drumcree but "the siege of the province, the siege of the whole of the United Kingdom".

Preparations all around were siege like for this Orange march and the route of its proposed return journey from the Church of the Ascension at Drumcree, on the outskirts, back down to the Carleton Orange Hall in the town centre.

Overnight on Saturday, British army engineers cordoned off the fields surrounding the church with barbed wire as some 2,000 RUC officers and scores of British soldiers were drafted into the Co Armagh town.

At 9.15 am. yesterday, the Orange Order held a press conference in the Carleton hall at which The district master, Mr Gracey, said of the RUC decision not to allow the parade down the Garvaghy Road. "We are of the opinion that this is a politically motivated decision taken to appease republicanism. It is a dangerous concession to those who threaten violence to achieve their ends.

"As an organisation we are committed to civil and religious liberty. Therefore, in all conscience, we cannot accept any rerouting and we demand the restoration of our rights. We are determined to stand fast for our faith and freedom." They would stand firm if it took a minute, a day, a week or a year.

The Ulster Unionist Party leader, Mr David Trimble, an Orangeman, said the RUC had fallen into a trap.

Shortly after 10 a.m. the 1,200 or so Orangemen set out, accompanied by three accordion hands. They walked along the road and up the hill for three miles to the church at Drumcree, as local people lined the streets and watched the parade pass by.

Shortly after 11.30 a.m. the church service, led by the Rev John Pickering, began. He said it was the help of Almighty God which brought an end to last year's problem. "The problem in Portadown affects the whole of Northern Ireland and the peace process."

Outside the church, a woman handed out Romewatch newsletters the lead story said a Catholic nun had been responsible for thousands of deaths in Rwanda.

After the service at about 12.20 pm. Mr Gracey said Drumcree had become "Ulster's Alamo". The world was watching. He hoped nobody would be injured during what happens in the next few hours we will stand firm and march our traditional route".

At 12.50 pm the Orange parade marched down the hill to the RUC men and women standing shoulder to should in bullet proof vests blocking the road. Behind them were parked rows of police Land Rovers. In the fields lay more RUC officers with riot helmets and shields.

Orangemen and others stood in the graveyard overlooking the blockade, and hundreds more gathered beside the parade. An RUC officer told the crowd the parade was not allowed to go by that route "by order 4.1. of the Public Order Act Mr Gracey told the crowd and the police. "It is a sad state of affairs when her majesty's forces stop her majesty's subjects from marching on her majesty's highways and I hope that you people who are blocking our way take that into account".

He told the crowd. "If we hold out as long as possible, the rest of our Province in a few hours will show their stand too. The people around the Province are heading this way.

"There is a ring of steel around Portadown. It is a siege of Portadown and of Ulster. If we fail in this we are finished. Dick Spring is behind this through the Maryfield Secretariat."

After that the bands marched back up the hill with some of the Orangemen. Some members of the order stayed behind with the large crowd in front of the police. People strolled up and down the hill and waited.

At 2.40 p.m. the Rev Martyn Smyth, the Orange Order leader, addressed the crowd outside the church. Those who had asked for compromise over Garvaghy Road had only one view, he said. "It was their way or no other way."

Asking the crowd to be controlled, he said he knew some people "fly off the handle" sooner than others. "Contain yourselves and by what your marshalls.

At 2.50 pm. Mr Smyth, Mr Trimble and Mr Gracey gave a press conference in the nearby hall. Mr Smyth said there would be protest marches around the North during the week. All were non committal about reports that it would be like the loyalist strike of 1974.

Mr Trimble said. "There will be no violence in Drumcree. The Orange Order will ensure that its members behave responsibly."

He said through intermediaries they had been in touch with the residents on Garvaghy road but there would be no compromise at all.

At 3 p.m. the first reports came in of road blocks in Lisburn and Maghera. "If the security services can block the roads, so can we," said Mr Smyth.

Asked if he condoned the breaking of the law, he said that if it was breaking the law the people had no other way.

Afterwards the three men marched down to the blockade, again to loud cheers, and addressed the swelling numbers of people. After they left and went back up to the church, the crowd continued teasing the RUC trying to get a reaction. "You'd have to talk in Gaelic for them to understand" shouted an onlooker.

At 3.20 p.m. a young man began waving the Ulster flag and running it over the heads and faces of two RUC officers. A man who was drunk fell through the hedge on the side of the road. The crowd lunged, stones were thrown and within seconds the mood had turned ugly and the RUC had donned helmets and riot shields. They pulled the man with the flag through the crowd and arrested him for assaulting police officers.

Then Mr Gracey and Mr Trimble came through the crowd and talked to the man who had been arrested. Mr Trimble told the media he was "optimistic that it would be settled in a couple of days", and "of course" they would march down the Garvaghy Road.

"We're dealing with a very dangerous situation," the Ulster Unionist leader said. There were enough police resources on hand to have dealt with any problems on the Garvaghy road.

At 4 p.m. a huge cheer went up from the by now huge crowd as the Rev Ian Paisley came down the hill. In front of the RUC Land Rovers he said it was not just the siege of Drumcree, but the siege of the province and of the whole United Kingdom. "I am behind you every minute. I'm with you all the way. It is going to be a long, hard struggle."

With Mr Gracy and the Orange order chaplain, Rev Tom Taylor, they then walked through the police cordon to talk to the officers in charge.

Asked by reporters what they had discussed with the police Dr Paisley said, "that's our business. I don't think the media want to hear."

Mr Taylor said afterwards that "Mr Paisley thinks he's doing the right thing. He helped to resolve the situation last year".

His view of how long the stand off would continue. "I reckon they can hold out for a week."