About 500 Orange Order supporters turned out at a rally in Antrim last night to support the Drumcree protest against marchers not being allowed to parade down Garvaghy Road.
Numbers were lower than the organisers had expected, with one putting it down to the dispiriting effect of the Omagh bomb.
Nevertheless, the streets were lined to welcome a parade led by children carrying banners reminding the Portadown Orangemen, many of whom were present, that support "hadn't gone away, you know".
Among the guests on the platform was the youngest member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Mr Paul Berry of the DUP, who said the British government "would do anything to keep bombs off the mainland UK".
He added that the Parades Commission was providing a hiding place for the Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, and the Secretary of State, Dr Mo Mowlam. He criticised the restrictions placed on this weekend's loyal order parades.
The most recent restrictions announced were for parades due to take place over the next week. They include a rerouteing, on Saturday, of the Belfast Grand Black Chapter, which has been prohibited from crossing the Ormeau Bridge/Annadale Embankment and Havelock Bridge.
A moment of silence was held to remember the victims of the Omagh bomb, and the Armagh County Grand Master, Mr Denis Watson, welcomed Mr Blair's announcement of new anti-terrorist measures.
the former Orange Order Grand Master, the Rev Martin Smyth MP, encouraged peaceful protests, and a Portadown spokesman, Mr David Jones, maintained that Orangemen would walk Garvaghy Road.
The rally also signalled a new approach to protests by the Orange Order, as an Orange ribbon campaign was launched.