A RING of security surrounded Portadown yesterday as most main roads and several minor roads leading to the Co Armagh town had joint RUC/British army checkpoints.
Tensions in the town, already high, intensified yesterday as police and army saturated the Ballyoran Park estate on the Garvaghy Road following an anonymous call to the Samaritans of a suspect device in the area.
At around 4.30 a.m. yesterday hundreds of troops moved into the estate and the army's bomb disposal team was called in. About 60 families in the estate were evacuated during the security operation.
Fearful that this was the first stage in attempts by the security forces to saturate the area in anticipation of forcing the Orange Order's parade on Sunday d9wn the Garvaghy Road, a siren alerted residents and hundreds of people crowded on to the Garvaghy Road.
The device turned out to be a hoax and the security forces left the area in mid-morning. It is thought the outlawed Loyalist Volunteer Force was responsible for the hoax.
In a separate development, the LVF issued a death threat against the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition chairman, Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith. He said he was taking the threat seriously.
It's not the first time I've been threatened and it'll not be the last. It is the first time l have been threatened in such a public manner. I think it is an attempt to try and intimidate the people of this community.
"I woiifd send a message to the LVF that they are not going to intimidate me. They are not going to deflect me from what I am doing and they are not going to intimidate this community from its objective," he said.
The increased security around Portadown was said by tiie RUC to be designed to ensure the safety of residents throughout the area.
Early yesterday residents said street lighting along the Ciarvaghy Road and in some of the estates went out and during that darkness someone threw a paint bomb at recently painted murals on gable walls.
Craigavon Area Hospital nearby has put into force emergency contingency plans and have cancelled all out-patient clinics for the next week, affecting almost 2,000 patients. Staff have been put on emergency standby and have been given accommodation on site in case they are not able to travel to work, as the hospital's chief executive Mr John Templeton said he was preparing for a "worst-case senario".
Mr Paul McCormick of the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service voiced concern that his staff may not be afforded safe passage to emergency situations.
Panic buying has gripped the North as people stock up on essential food. Shops in Portadown are said to be running out of candles and demand for gas cylinders and gas cookers has risen dramatically.
Camping shops and hardware stores have been reporting huge sales of camping gas equipment as people prepare for possible power cuts. One shop owner said: "l think they are just panicking. There are rumours going round about power cuts. People are stocking up with gas and stoves and getting ready for all eventualities."
Another shop owner described the sale of candles and gas equipment: "We have been virtually sold out of them a couple of times and we got them back in again. I would say this weekend will tell a big tale. Yesterday was very, very heavy. People don't know what's happening. Double-burner and single-burner stoves have been going very, very fast. Gas, oil lamps, right across the whole range of stand-by articles."
The area around Drumcree Church was quiet although hundreds of camouflaged soldiers lurked in the background. The only indication of forthcoming events was a single Portaloo in a nearby field.