A member of the North's Parades Commission whose membership of the Orange Order sparked a legal action has stepped down from the organisation.

The loyal marching orders today held a groundbreaking first ever joint meeting with the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

THE leaders of three Protestant marching organisations in the North issued a dramatic appeal for calm yesterday in the wake of Catholic teenager Michael McIlveen’s murder.

Representatives of the Orange Order are due to hold talks in Dublin today with the husband of President Mary McAleese.

The Orange Order tonight accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of double standards over terrorism in the North and around the world.

Unrepentant Orange Order leaders tonight continued to shrug off blame for the days and nights of violence which engulfed Belfast after a contentious parade at the weekend.

The Orange Order has refused to apologise for the loyalist riots in the North over the past few days, despite being blamed by the PSNI for sparking the violence.

Loyalist gangs have engaged in a third consecutive night of rioting throughout Belfast and surrounding areas following the re-routing of a contentious Orange Order parade.

Northern Secretary Peter Hain has defended PSNI chief constable Hugh Orde's criticism of the Orange Order in the wake of this weekend's loyalist riots in Belfast.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Sir Reg Empey will meet the head of the Orange Order today to explore how the pair can work together – four months after the organisation severed its links with the party.

The Orange Order has voted to sever its links with the Ulster Unionist Party.

A Protestant minister in the North has resigned from the Orange Order over the Grand Master's attitude to the law.

The Orange Order in Co Derry has rejected the recent Irish-British declaration on implementing the Good Friday Agreement.

A report due to be published today is expected to criticise unionist politicians over their ambivalence to the displaying of paramilitary flags at loyalist parades.

Nothing short of the expulsion of Sinn Fein ministers from government office in Northern Ireland will rekindle Unionist confidence in the peace process, a leading Ulster Unionist MP said today.

More than 200 people have completed a college course in stewarding loyalist band parades, it emerged today.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair are today resuming attempts to save the Northern Ireland peace process with talks on the Shropshire/Staffordshire border.

Orangemen have again been turned away from the blockades at Drumcree bridge.

The Northern Ireland Secretary says the eyes of the world will be on the Province in the run-up to the annual Drumcree Parade.

The Orange Order in Northern Ireland has issued a fresh call for a public inquiry into the murder of loyalist Billy Wright.

Westminster MPs today issued an appeal to Orangemen in a bid to draw them into the decision-making process over parades and avert another summer of civil disturbances in Northern Ireland.