THOUSANDS of Orangemen and their loyalist supporters brought Northern Ireland to a virtual standstill last night in support of loyalists engaged in the stand-off at Drumcree near Portadown.
Trouble flared throughout the North from early yesterday to early this morning. Following a day of serious disturbances, chiefly in the Portadown area, rioting erupted last night in north and south Belfast. In the north of the city, a number of Catholic families were forced from their homes. Police, backed by British troops, mounted a huge security operation to try to stifle further trouble in the city.
In Portadown, about 500 Orangemen marched through the town last night as it emerged that the police had discovered 50 petrol bombs near a pub in the town centre. In north Belfast, RUC officers trying to keep stone-throwing nationalists and loyalists apart were attacked by both sides.
Trouble was reported in Bellaghy, Co Derry, during an Orange parade. Four people were arrested after an Orange hall in Dundrod, Co Antrim, was set alight.
Roads into virtually every town in Northern Ireland were blocked by Orangemen and loyalists. The roads into Belfast International Airport were blocked, as was the main road into Larne Harbour, the main Al road from Belfast to Dublin near Banbridge, Co Down, and roads out of Derry and into Enniskillen.
Early today there was no sign of the tension easing and no indication of any potential compromise to the Drumcree stand-off.
The resources of the RUC and British army were being stretched to the limit as the Grand Orange Lodge organised the protests across the North. Similar protests are planned for the coming days most ominously in Downpatrick tonight and in Derry on Friday, the Twelfth.
The massive disruption bears echoes of the 1974 Ulster Workers Council strike which brought down the Sunningdale power-sharing administration. There were concerns, particularly following the murder of Mr Michael McGoldrick in Lurgan, that the loyalist ceasefire could fall apart.
Reported estimates of the damage and loss of business has been put at several million pounds
On the political front, the Ulster Unionists, the DUP and Mr Robert McCartney's UK Unionist Party said they were pulling out of the multi-party talks at Stormont until the Drumcree impasse was resolved. The SDLP and the Alliance Party deplored this move. The CUP leader, Mr David Trimble, and the DUP leader, the Rev Ian Paisley, are due to meet the British Prime Minister, Mr John Major, in London today.
The RUC said that since the stand-off began on Sunday afternoon, 80 roads had been blockaded and 84 vehicles hijacked. There were more than 20 arrests for public order offences. Two suspect devices were being dealt with by British army bomb-disposal experts.
On a number of occasions, the RUC fired plastic bullets when they were attacked at the stand-off line at Drumcree. Three protesters were injured yesterday morning. Two were released from hospital, but a teenager from Craigavon, Co Armagh, was said to be in a serious condition. In Ballymena, Co Antrim, a crowd broke into a new-car compound of a Ford dealer, destroying more than 50 cars and damaging 25 others at an estimated cost of more than £750,000.
Police last night appealed for calm and restraint, as did the Sinn Fein president, Mr Gerry Adams. The Northern Secretary, Sir Patrick Mayhew, yesterday appealed to Orangemen and nationalists to engage in dialogue to resolve the Drumcree stand-off.
As the rain continued to fall through the night, the several thousand protesters had been reduced to about 500.
The Irish Roadcentury occupant, the first Earl of Mornington, father of the Duke of Wellington) but a hotel across the river on Marlborough Street.
That property is now being cleared of its contents by Town & Country Auctioneers next Monday evening, beginning at 6 p.m. The large assortment of Victorian furniture includes a 19th century rocking horse found in the house's basement, as well as a mahogany dining table (estimate £1,000-£1,200) and an oak bookcase (£2,800-£3,200).
Earlier period pieces include a George III mahogany bureau (also £2,800-£3,200) and a George IV long case clock (£1,800-£2,000).
There are also pictures and prints, wardrobes, sideboards, fireplaces, statues and miscellaneous items.
