Members of the Portadown district of the Orange Order announced last night they would continue their standoff at Drumcree until they could parade down the mainly nationalist Garvaghy Road.
The district master, Mr Harold Gracey, said the decision had been unanimous. Asked if the district lodge was rejecting the advice of the Grand Master, Mr Robert Saulters, Mr Gracey said Mr Saulters had not tried to influence them.
The chairman of the Garvaghy Road residents, Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, said last night it was time for everyone "to take stock". Asked if he took some responsibility for what had happened, he said that everyone had to take responsibility for events.
Earlier, local politicians condemned the murder of the three boys in a petrol-bomb attack on their Ballymoney home. The SDLP Assembly member, Mrs Brid Rodgers, said no one could feel anything but horror at what had happened.
The Orange Order refused on Saturday to continue dialogue on the Sabbath. Mrs Rodgers said: "I want to ask them which is more important on the Sabbath - to see loyalists, in the name of loyalism and in the name of what's happening, murder three young children, or to continue dialogue to resolve this crisis that we're all facing at the moment."
Criticising the local lodge for continuing its protest, and denying responsibility for the murders and the week's violence, she said: "It is an arrogant attitude to think that people cannot see what is going on and I would appeal to those in the Orange Order who are decent human beings if only in the name of humanity to exert real leadership, to show moral courage and to call of the standoff and to get into dialogue immediately."
The Sinn Fein Assembly member for Mid-Ulster, Mr Francie Molloy, said that everyone was numbed by the tragedy. He offered his sympathies to the family and to the "Catholic community which has been held under siege for the last week".
Mr Molloy appealed to the "good sensible Orangemen" to lift the siege and to get into dialogue with all their neighbours. "They are sowing the seeds for generations in the future and we have to stop, we have to call a line somewhere."
He did not think there was now any pressure on the nationalist community in Portadown to end its protest - "except the intimidation pressure and the siege pressure on them".
The order's district press officer, Mr David Jones, said earlier he did not think that "us backing off is going to necessarily improve the situation. It could make it worse." He expressed sympathy to the Quinn family in Ballymoney and said that the Orange Order knew about such tragedy because they had been victims of terrorism for years.
The Catholic Primate, Dr Sean Brady, said he was very "saddened and shocked and angered too" at the murders. He also called on the Orange Order to end its standoff.
Asked if he saw any situation where an Orange parade could go down the road, he said: "I don't know, you'd better ask that of the residents. I'm here preaching the message of Christ as best I can - the message of good relationships."
He declined to comment on whether the Orange Order bore some moral responsibility. But the Archbishop added: "In this atmosphere of heightened emotion, it's very dangerous to be calling people to assemble in large numbers on any side".
