Mr Joel Patton, spokesperson for the Spirit of Drumcree movement within the Orange Order, said yesterday he had decided to stand down, saying he was "disillusioned with the whole thing".
Mr Patton said he will not be contesting last November's expulsion from the Orange Order, and that he is quitting the Orange institution for good.
"I have decided not to appeal my expulsion from the Orange Order," said Mr Patton. "I have decided to call it a day. I am totally disillusioned and feel very badly let down by the Orange Order in general. I now intend to concentrate on my business and family".
However, Mr Patton said he had no animosity towards those Orangemen involved with the Spirit of Drumcree group, saying that they had always treated him "honourably". "The spirit has gone out of Drumcree," commented Mr Patton. "I feel that everything I did has been for nothing."
Mr Patton's decision to stand down will come as a major setback for those elements within the Orange Order opposed to the Belfast Agreement. Without his leadership, the Spirit of Drumcree has, in recent months, faded into obscurity. One Portadown Orangeman confirmed the group had not met for several months and there were "no further meetings in the pipeline".
Meanwhile, it has emerged that the Presbyterian minister whose speech following the murder of the Quinn children helped cause the Drumcree protest to collapse last July has been accepted back by the Portadown Orange District.
The Rev William Bingham, who called on Orangemen to end the Drumcree protest, confirmed that he had been speaking to Portadown's Orange leaders recently. However, Mr Bingham rejected any suggestion that his re-emergence suggested Orangemen were exploring the possibility of a compromise deal with the Garvaghy Road residents which would allow the parade to march the disputed route.
The news that Mr Binghan was in contact with Portadown District has infuriated local Orangemen. They say Mr Bingham's re-involvement and the recent "secret" talks between Orangemen and Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble will be raised at the district meeting due to take place tomorrow.