Soldiers prepare for tomorrow's parade
Around 500 people gathered in Portadown town centre this evening for a rally at the end of the Long March to advance what the organisers say are Protestant civil rights. The rally heard criticism of the proposed deal to form an executivde at Stormont. DUP assembly man Paul Berry also accused Nationalist leaders of exaggerating claims that the residents of the Garvaghy Road were discriminated against.
Security forces in the North are on standby tonight as the countdown begins to this year's parade. British Soldiers continue to flood into the fields around Drumcree parish church as Orangemen and nationalist residents remain at loggerheads over tomorrow's proposed march. The security minister Adam Ingram, on a brief visit to the Portadown area, expressed regret that heavy security force measures had to be undertaken to prevent trouble during this year's march.
Tony Blair held separate talks last night with the Order and representatives of nationalist residents of the Garvaghy Road in Portadown. Mr Blair urged the Orangemen not to be drawn into protests after their failure to reach a compromise over tomorrow's parade at Drumcree. The Orange Order Grand Master, Robert Saulters, has written to all Orange lodges in the North to appeal for calm.
Two people were injured in so-called punishment attacks in North Belfast last night. A 17-year-old youth was shot in the leg after he was accosted by a number of men in Tyndale Grove. Earlier, a 24-year-old man was attacked by two masked men with baseball bats in an alley at Highfield Drive. He is being treated for two suspected broken legs.
