A major security operation is under way in Northern Ireland today as thousands of Orangemen take to the streets for the Battle of the Boyne commemoration parades.

Unionists have criticised the British government's decision to give the Parades Commission extra powers to restrict loyalist marches in the North.

Belfast Orangemen face prosecution after taking part in a parade today which had not been sanctioned by the Parades Commission.

Buses carrying Orangemen back from Twelfth of July parades have reportedly been stoned by crowds in Counties Antrim and Derry.

Loyalists and Nationalists pelted each other with missiles tonight as Orangemen marched through a bitterly contested north Belfast flashpoint.

HOPES of another quiet marching season in Northern Ireland this summer were raised after the annual parade to Drumcree passed off peacefully yesterday.

The Orange Order in Portadown is believed to have met with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs to discuss this year’s Drumcree parade on July 4.

Tensions were running high in the Ardoyne district of North Belfast tonight as Orangemen returned from the main July 12 demonstration.

PORTADOWN Orangemen have been banned from marching on the town’s flashpoint Garvaghy Road on Sunday.

Portadown Orangemen have been banned from marching on the town’s flashpoint Garvaghy Road on Sunday.

Feared renegade loyalist boss Billy Wright threatened to kidnap and kill three priests if Orangemen were not allowed to march on the flashpoint Garvaghy Road at the height of the 1996 Drumcree stand-off, a court heard today.

There was trouble in Ballymena tonight as Orangemen returned to the town from their Twelfth of July marches.

Northern Ireland was holding its breath today hoping the controversial annual Drumcree parade by Portadown Orangemen passed off peacefully.

Portadown Orangemen have again been barred from marching down the nationalist Garvaghy Road during their annual Drumcree Parade.

The Orange Order in Portadown, Co Armagh, has withdrawn from mediation talks with South African lawyer Brian Currin, blaming the intransigence of the Garvaghy Rd residents for the move.

Loyalist marchers blocked from walking through a nationalist area in Northern Ireland today threatened legal action after accusing the RUC of double standards.

Serious rioting is continuing in north Belfast after Orangemen returned from their annual twelfth of July parades.

Protestant Orangemen have set off on their annual Twelfth of July parades.

There will be parades all across the North today as Orangemen commemorate the Battle of the Boyne.

The Orangemen prayed before setting off on their march towards Drumcree Church for their annual Battle of the Somme commemoration service.

David Trimble tonight called for the Drumcree Orangemen to be allowed to march down the flashpoint nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown.

A haul of loyalist guns was seized tonight in Northern Ireland amid claims that new efforts to end the tense Orange Order stand off at Drumcree would fail.

A leading member of the Portadown Orange order is calling for the RUC to stand up for the protestant community.

Portadown Orangemen were today taking their Drumcree protest to the British Prime Minister’s doorstep.