As a Protestant fraternal group staged a tense but peaceful march Sunday near a Roman Catholic neighborhood in Portadown, Northern Ireland, authorities worked to find out who set off a car bomb in a predominantly Catholic town to the north. Authorities have refused to allow the Orangemen passage down the road, which goes through a largely Catholic neighborhood.
Residents consider the march triumphalist and deeply insulting.
Marchers, who argue it is their right to proceed down the road, delivered a letter protesting the road closure to police. They also have vowed to stage peaceful protests next week in Northern Ireland. Portadown Orange Order leaders said before the march that Sunday's procession would be peaceful. A passerby suspicious of the car reported it to the police, who were able to clear the area before the bomb exploded. Nevertheless, one child suffered cuts from flying glass.