Disputed Drumcree Orange Order parade blocked on return route

The event took place amid frustration at what Orangemen said was a flat refusal of nationalist residents to talk to them in advance of the event.

The outward route went ahead, as usual, without issue from Carleton Street west and northwards through the town to Drumcree Parish Church of Ireland.

But the return route, a source of dispute since the 1990s, had been refused by the Parades Commission again this year following opposition by the Garvaghy Road Residents Coalition.

The return march has been banned by the Parades Commission each year since 1998, when the body first came into existence.

Yesterday, Orangemen marched to a small barrier manned by PSNI officers near the church where there were speeches and a dignified protest took place.