THE Orange Order’s protest at Drumcree passed off peacefully yesterday, raising hopes that the bitter annual stand-off between Protestants and Roman Catholics in one of Northern Ireland’s most divided communities is at an end.

Drumcree has for eight years been synonymous with an eruption of sectarian violence every July that at one stage threatened to bring Northern Ireland to its knees. Yesterday, however, the only stones were thrown by young children, and they were quickly brought under control by their parents and Orange Order marshals.

The order was blocked for the sixth successive year from walking down the mainly Catholic Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh. The traditional march comes after a church service at Drumcree parish church, just outside Portadown.

In previous years more than 2,000 Orangemen marched to the church before congregating on the adjacent hill in a show of unity. Yesterday, barely 600 took part and most drifted off within minutes of the service ending.

“It’s finished. It’s over,” one loyalist said. “You still have to come to show your support, but as you can see it’s dying a death.”

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