The Parades Commission has banned Orangemen from marching down the Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh, this weekend. It is the fifth year running that they have been prevented from parading through the nationalist area.
The Orange Order expressed its "dismay, disappointment and disgust" at the decision, which was announced last night. Thousands of Orangemen and their supporters will gather at Drumcree hill for their annual church service on Sunday.
However, they will not be allowed to march down the Garvaghy Road afterwards. Instead, they will walk to police lines to hand over a letter of protest. The Deputy District Master of Portadown Orangemen, Mr David Burrows, condemned the commission's decision.
"The Garvaghy Road dispute has come to symbolise the victimsation of Northern Ireland's unionist community," he said. "If we want to give peace a chance in the province, the Parades Commission must be abolished."
The order had been willing to talk to nationalist residents and he was at a loss to understand the ban, he said.
"It is hard to see what more we can do to demonstrate our goodwill. There are more than half a million minutes in a year. All we are asking of the Garvaghy Road residents on Sunday is a bit of tolerance for just seven of them," Mr Burrows said.
It was a perfect opportunity for the Sinn Féin leadership, which had recently been making "conciliatory noises", to demonstrate its sincerity by using its influence to change the stance of the nationalist residents, he added.
Earlier, the North's First Minister, Mr David Trimble, had appealed to the commission.
"There will not be general acceptance of how things are conducted here unless Orangemen too feel their rights are being respected," he said. Whatever happened, all sides should exercise restraint.
Security surrounding the Drumcree protest is expected to be scaled down as the numbers taking part dwindle. The Assistant Chief Constable, Mr Stephen White, has refused to disclose policing plans but has said that a change in policing tactics may help ease tensions.
A major parade in south and east Belfast passed off peacefully last night. Security was tight as thousands of Orangemen and their supporters took part in the "mini-Twelfth".