Violence feared in N. Ireland

BELFAST, JULY 8. Northern Ireland today braced for a weekend of tension and potential violence on Saturday after authorities refused to lift a ban on the most controversial parade of the protestant ``marching season.''

The move followed a wave of violence by pro-British Protestant hardliners, who are furious about a ban on tomorrow's Protestant Orange Order march through a Roman Catholic enclave near the small town of Drumcree.

The Parades Commission, an independent body set up by the British Government to mediate in disputes over sectarian marches, felt that allowing the Protestants to march might anger Roman Catholics and lead to violence.

Police said last night was quieter than the preceding five nights when hardline Protestant loyalists rioted, hijacked vehicles and set them on fire to form barricades. But the Royal Ulster Constabulary did not think the calm would last.

``There is the odd road blocked, but nothing serious. We don't expect it to continue like this but we hope it would,'' a police source told Reuters.

Tension over the annual parades has upset the efforts of the uneasy home-rule coalition administration to restore normality after decades of communal strife and guerilla war.

The IRA and other groups who fought over Britain's right to rule in N. Ireland are observing a ceasefire. But a two-year-old peace accord has failed to douse the embers of sectarianism.

- Reuters

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Section  : International
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