Trimble, Paisley give marchers their full backing

UNIONIST politicians and Orangemen were adamant yesterday that they would stay at Drumcree until they were allowed to march down the Garvaghy Road.

The District Orange master, Mr Harold Gracey, said if it took "one day, one week or a year" they would stay.

The Democratic Unionist Party leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, said it was not just the siege of Drumcree but the siege of the whole United Kingdom.

To huge cheers, he told the swelling crowd facing down the RUC that "I'm with you all the way. It will be a long, hard struggle."

Mr David Trimble, the Ulster Unionist Party leader, was confident that the Orange march would go through Garvaghy Road and was "optimistic" that the confrontation would be resolved within "a couple of days".

He said it was serious situation and there were sufficient RUC resources in place to have dealt three times over with any problem on the Garvaghy Road. It was an affront to their religious and civil liberties to prevent them marching. He pointed out that while the RUC had said the march could not go through Garvaghy there was no order that the parade should be rerouted.

At a press conference, the Grand Master of the Orange Order, the Rev Martin Smyth, said they were prepared to recognise the right of Garvaghy residents to protest. But, he said, "the majority community is saying `enough is enough'".

He said there would be protests throughout the week across Northern Ireland, but he was non-committal on reports that there could be a situation similar to the loyalist strike of 1974.

The Chief Constable had made a mistake in stopping the march and he did not think there was an alternative that would be acceptable to the Orange Order.