The North's Parades Commission has delayed announcing a decision on an Apprentice Boys parade down the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast on Saturday.
A spokesman for the commission said an announcement would not be made before tomorrow. "We have received representations in the last 24 hours. The position is being very carefully assessed, but there will be no determination before Wednesday," he said.
Local residents have objected to the march, by several dozen Apprentice Boys before they travel by bus to Derry for their main demonstration.
Arrangements for the Derry march have still to be finalised, and new talks involving representatives of the Apprentice Boys and the Bogside Residents' Group are due to take place tomorrow.
The spokesman for the group, Mr Donnacha MacNiallais, said the Derry march could go ahead unopposed if feeder parades in the Lower Ormeau and other parts of the North were cancelled.
"In terms of principle, we stand by the right of the Lower Ormeau community not to be subject to a parade being forced through their area. In practice, we come at it from the point of view that if we want a positive environment for a peaceful commemoration in Derry, then forcing parades through other areas where there is opposition doesn't lend itself to creating that environment."
Mr MacNiallais denied that the Belfast march was a separate issue. "The Apprentice Boys Association say they exist to commemorate the Siege of Derry. We are saying by all means let us have the commemoration of the siege in Derry itself and let the Apprentice Boys get on their buses and come directly to Derry."
Mr Gerard Rice of the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community group said he believed the march through his area would be banned. The Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, said the delay had caused the Apprentice Boys considerable anxiety. The Governor of the Apprentice Boys, Mr Alistair Simpson, said his organisation was committed to a peaceful parade in Derry.