A tense stand-off threatened to return Northern Ireland to its embittered past on Sunday after a loyalist parade was allowed to go ahead for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Thousands of protesters, including first minister Michelle O'Neill and former Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, blocked Garvaghy Road in Portadown to stop the Protestant Orange Order marching through the Catholic area.
The demonstration had been banned since 1998 due to repeated sectarian violence outside Drumcree Church which culminated in the firebombing that year of a Catholic home in which three children were killed.
On Friday, the ban was lifted by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, leading to a weekend of legal wrangling. At 2.15am on Sunday, Belfast's Court of Appeal ruled it would not interfere with the decision.
The Orange Order had been due to start the march at 8am on Sunday.
As of 8pm on Sunday, members of the order said they would continue to wait until police tell them the road is clear. But Ms O'Neill urged protesters to stay to at least midnight to continue the stand-off.
Ms O'Neill branded the decision to lift the ban as 'disgraceful' and said the march was 'steeped in a history of hate, sectarian violence and murder'.
She added: 'Families here feel traumatised. Does anybody think that this is a good idea? No right-minded person would make this decision. Why, after 28 years, did the Parades Commission think it was right to bring this mess back on to this community?'
A tense stand-off threatened to return Northern Ireland to its embittered past on Sunday after a loyalist parade was allowed to go ahead for the first time in nearly 30 years
The Orange Order lined up outside the hall at Drumcree Parish Church for the 8.00am parade start that was then delayed by a policing decision
Thousands of protesters blocked Garvaghy Road in Portadown to stop the Protestant Orange Order marching through the Catholic area
Sinn Fein president Mary Lou McDonald said: 'People have gathered in huge numbers because they are angry. They cannot countenance the idea that anybody would set this place back almost 30 years and revisit the trauma this community endured.'
Democratic Unionist Party leader Gavin Robinson said there should be 'unanimous condemnation' of Ms O'Neill and her Sinn Fein colleagues for defying the court's decision.
He said: 'We are being plunged into difficult territory because people who are expected to be lawmakers in our country are breaking the law.'
Asked whether he would continue to work with Sinn Fein, he said: 'Our party is maintaining the dignity of the Portadown Orangemen. As they have shown determination and patience, so will we. If it takes another 28 hours or 28 days, they will show the same steadfast determination, patience and willingness to uphold the law as they've demonstrated over the last 28 years.'
Prime Minister Andy Burnham appealed for calm on all sides, but Northern Ireland Secretary Sir Chris Bryant appeared to criticise Ms O'Neill, saying: 'I don't think any elected politician should be supporting an unlawful protest.' He urged both sides to 'double down on compromise' so a 'settled position' could be reached.
Protesters were separated from the Orange Order by riot police on Sunday, but there was little trouble. One man who hurled a bottle at a police vehicle was reprimanded by fellow protesters.
Jon Boutcher, Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said: 'We are determined to find a way through all of this.'