NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      DRUMCREE, Northern Ireland (CWNews.com) -- No serious incidents were reported as Protestant marchers from the Orange Order paraded through the town of Portadown on Monday, July 5, stopping short of the nearby Catholic town of Drumcree.

      Although some members of the Orange Order had vowed that they would march into Drumcree, the heavy British troop presence made it impossible those promises. Facing soldiers and barbed-wire roadblocks outside the Catholic town, the Orangemen delivered a protest to the British peacekeeping contingent, but then turned away without forcing any further confrontation.

      After the parade had ended, officials reported one incident in which young Protestant hoodlums attempted to break into a Catholic cemetery near Drumcree. They were driven away by British paratroopers.

      The relative quiet of the annual march was seen as a victory for British Prime Minster Tony Blair, who was struggling to rally support for his efforts to force progress in the peace talks on Northern Ireland. Unionists in the divided region had protested that Blair was making too many concessions to the Republican forces, and a new outbreak of violence at Drumcree-- the scene of daily confrontations between Orangemen and police last summer-- was seen as likely to inflame tensions and make the peace process more complicated.

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