Garvaghy Road residents have threatened to mobilise nationalists in Portadown, Co Armagh, on Sunday after police escorted members of the Orange Order along a section of the prohibited Drumcree parade route yesterday.
The incident happened at around 2.30 p.m. when around 10 Orangemen, including Portadown deputy master, Mr David Burrows, were escorted without regalia from Drumcree Church, along Drumcree Road and Ballyoran Hill by several police vehicles. Members of the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition said the surprise move had shocked residents.
A spokesman said it was significant that on the day which was supposed to herald "a new era for policing" in Portadown the old Orange Order/RUC alliance had re-emerged. In recent weeks, police have prevented Orangemen without regalia from proceeding beyond Drumcree Church where all Orange marches have been halted by a Parades Commission ruling issued in July 1998.
The spokesman said they had informed Irish Government officials of the incident. He said after yesterday's events, the residents may have no option but to call for a mobilisation of nationalists on Sunday. "The question needs to be asked - is the RUC in Portadown attempting to prepare the ground for an Orange march through the area in the near future."