THE small Co Antrim village of Dunloy will face a final, and possibly major, confrontation of the marching season next Sunday, when an Orange parade is due to take place there with a large contingent of outside participants and bands.
Meanwhile, as the British army moved in early yesterday with heavy equipment and removed security screening on the walls of Derry, it is anticipated that the Apprentice Boys organisation will attempt in coming weeks to carry out its stated intention of marching around the walls "at a time of its own choosing".
The troops, along with RUC officers, removed barriers and barbed wire erected on the walls earlier last month after an order made by the Northern Secretary banning all marches or public assemblies on the walls until the end of August.
The Royal Black Institution marches held at numerous locations in the North over the weekend led to confrontations and minor clashes in some towns and villages where nationalist protesters opposed the parades.
The worst trouble arose unexpectedly in the village of Crumlin, Co Antrim, close to Lough Neagh, where there were reports that returning bandsmen broke shop windows and clashed with nationalist protesters on Friday and Saturday night.
The RUC is investigating the disturbances in the village, which had not been one of the predicted flashpoints. Locals said, however, that they had warned the police that drunken bandsmen were likely to attempt to march through the mixed community village after returning from the main Black demonstration venues.
In most of the locations where contentious parades were anticipated the Black Preceptory members adjusted the route or extent of their parades after protesters turned out in considerable force.
In Dunloy, where secret talks to find an accommodation broke down late last Wednesday, over 150 residents gathered on a village street near the Orange hall where a small group of Black Preceptory members and one band met before boarding a bus to take them to one of the main parade venues at Portrush. The Black members had intended to march through the centre of the village to the Protestant church on the other side, but residents said that the occasion was not a church parade and the marchers would not be allowed through.
After consultation with RUC officers the Black members abandoned their plans and marched instead away from the village.
However, concern is growing about yet another Orange parade due to take place in the predominantly Catholic village.
The Dunloy residents are to hold a public meeting on Friday evening at which their attitude to next Sunday's parade will be decided.
. A Royal Black Institution parade in Pomeroy, Co Tyrone, did not go ahead yesterday after more than 100 nationalists blocked the road at the centre of the village in protest, writes Marie O'Halloran. Instead, the Pomeroy Preceptory held a short prayer service at the bottom of the town near the Presbyterian church, played God Save the Queen and dispersed.
However, the Black Institution members were very angry and viewed the protest as part of an ongoing attempt to get Protestants out of Pomeroy, a predominantly Catholic village. "We voluntarily cut our route by half without being asked by the RUC or by nationalists", said Mr Richard Reid, the master of the Pomeroy Preceptory, on Saturday night. "We had a parade here last Sunday and there was no problem. There were no protests, and Roman Catholic as well as Protestant people watched it. Tonight, we have no flags, we have a banner depicting biblical scenes, we have a pipe band to play hymns, and all we are doing is marching up to the Church of Ireland church."
Mr Desmond Grimes, of the Pomeroy Concerned Residents' Association, which organised the nationalist protest, said that cutting the route was not a compromise. People had a right to march, but in their own areas.
The preceptory members, mostly middle aged men, had returned from a larger parade in Portadown, Co Armagh. They had planned to walk from the Presbyterian church at the lower end of the village, up the main street, which is a mixed Catholic/Protestant road, to the Church of Ireland church on the Diamond at the centre of the village, around the church and back down.
When the bus carrying the preceptory members arrived in the village there were discussions between the Blackmen and RUC Supt David Pickering. After about 30 minutes Mr Reid made a statement to the gathering. "We have given notice of a peaceful walk in the village to express our religious beliefs and our faith as Protestants", he said.