The exclusively Protestant Orange Order staged a peaceful protest in Drumcree on Sunday against an official ban on a traditional parade route through a Catholic enclave. Troops and police saturated the village to try to avert a repeat of the violence of previous years that has marked the annual march by the pro-British Orange Order. Northern Ireland authorities on Monday banned an Orange Order parade from entering a Catholic area in south Belfast next week. Catholics in the Northern Irish capital welcomed the ruling by the British province's independent Parades Commission but the Orange Order said it would cause anger among its supporters. The Orange Order views the marches as a treasured tradition expressing allegiance to Britain.
Catholics say they are an insult and hark back to Protestant domination in the province.
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