The grand master of the Orange Order last night called for an end to the street protests which have disrupted life in the North for the past fortnight.
Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster, Mr Robert Saulters said the order was in danger of losing public support because of the protests, and he called for a period of reflection to decide upon a new course of action.
Mr Saulters also said that in calling for the protests the Portadown district had failed to consult with the grand lodge. "The Portadown officers had their own advisers for the past year and I don't know what kind of advice they are getting from them, quite frankly," he said. "The normal practice is to go to their county first, which they haven't done. The next thing is grand lodge and myself, which they haven't done. So I would say that they are not playing the game with us at all."
Earlier yesterday, Portadown Orangemen had called for further protests throughout Northern Ireland today in support of their stance at Drumcree. Mr David Jones, information officer for the Portadown district loyal Orange lodge, said they were calling for "sporadic and spontaneous protests" in the North between 3 and 6 p.m. today. He requested that such protests be peaceful.
Mr Jones told The Irish Times in Portadown late last night that the protests called for today would be going ahead, despite the grand master's views.
The prominent Orangeman and Ulster Unionist candidate for the South Antrim by-election, Mr David Burnside, said this Twelfth was a defining moment for the order, which must now seize control and dissociate itself from the violence carried out in its name.
The vast majority of the order's members were disgusted at the violence carried out by some protesters, he said. "These are not loyalists, these are thugs. The leadership of the order needs to get its act together and retain the Orange Order as a broad church within the Protestant community.
"If it moves towards toleration or acceptance in any way of the thuggery that has been around on the fringes, it will discredit the order. And the enemies of Orangeism and Protestantism are sitting there smiling and laughing. The trap was set by republicans years ago at Drumcree and unfortunately some of my brethren have walked into the trap." The anti-agreement UUP MP, Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, said the Orange Order leadership had clearly condemned the violence which did nothing to help Portadown Orangemen.
Mr Donaldson said it was upsetting that effigies of RUC officers had been burnt on Orange bonfires. "That isn't doing anything whatsoever to advance the cause at Drumcree," he added. The President of the Methodist Church, the Rev Ken Todd, has condemned the "disgraceful scenes of violence, intimidation, injury and murder".
He praised the actions of the RUC and British army and said the protests had nothing to do with Christianity. An "evil and sinister" element had become involved and was not under the control of the Orange Order.
"All Christian churches will want to distance themselves from the vulgarity and violence surrounding Orange protests," he said.
"We deeply regret that those who called for the protests did not heed the calls of the church and political leaders to call them off before they became uncontrollable."