THE security crisis deepened in the North last night as violence flared throughout Belfast and at many other points, including the scene of the Orange protestors' stand-off in Drumcree, near, Portadown, Co Armagh.
Plastic bullets were fired when a number of Orangemen broke through the first barbed wire defence line at Drumcree. The RUC and British troops regrouped to drive them back, as the crowd of Orangemen and supporters swelled to almost 10,000 throughout yesterday.
More than 50 people were arrested throughout yesterday and last night. By early this morning there were so many road blocks in place that the RUC said they could not keep count.
In Drumcree tension was still high early this morning. However, some RUC units moved out to other areas as the crowds began to disperse. At least 3,000 people were remaining throughout the night.
With tension at breaking point in north Belfast also, as a series of hastily arranged Orange parades took place, there were numerous clashes, houses were stoned and petrol bombs thrown. Police reported that several shots were fired.
Extra police and British troops were moved into position to suppress sectarian clashes as cars were hijacked and set on fire to create barricades.
There was widespread disruption of road and rail traffic for the second night running and major towns throughout the North were brought to a standstill by gangs blocking roads and burning vehicles.
As the loyalist stand-off with police at Drumcree, near Portadown, Co Armagh, moved into its fourth day, more Orange marches are planned for this evening in a pre-Twelfth build-up.
At the village of Richhill in Co Armagh yesterday afternoon police fired plastic bullets in a confrontation with loyalists who had blocked a major roundabout with lorries and vans. Plastic bullets were also fired when police clashed with rioters in Lisburn, Co Armagh.
When the situation worsened in Belfast last night, Citybus suspended all its evening services. Barricades were erected at Clifton Park Avenue in the north of the city, where a crowd of youths were stoning houses and up to six shots were heard in the Avoca Street, Alliance Avenue and Ardoyne Road areas. No injuries were reported.
By 10 p.m. crowds of nationalists and loyalists were separated by police lines at several points in north Belfast. An arson attack was reported on a Catholic family and a factory was on fire in Ligoniel. There were petrol bomb attacks in the Newington area of the Antrim Road, on the M1 near Lisburn and in Bangor.
Barriers were also erected at North Queen Street in Belfast and there were sporadic clashes between youths and police as an Orange parade marched to the city centre from Sandy Row.
Most city-centre bars and restaurants shut their doors and there was an early mass exodus of commuters, leaving the streets eerily deserted except for demonstrators and police. British army helicopters circled above the city monitoring potential flashpoints.
On the outskirts of Belfast, key access points, such as the Carryduff roundabout, Finaghy crossroad Saintfield Road, Comber Road, Lisburn Road and Kingsway at Dunmurry were blockaded. Youths gathering at the Ormeau bridge were confronted by a line of police in riot gear. The Queen's bridge and the Queen Elizabeth bridge were also closed.
The parades and the clashes tailed off after midnight.
Elsewhere in the North, access to Coleraine was completely sealed off after protesters closed two bridges leading into the town. Burning vehicles stopped traffic entering Armagh city centre and trees closed off roads into Ballymena.
In Derry, the Foyle bridge and the upper deck of the Craigavon bridge were blocked. Rail services between Derry and Belfast were cancelled after incidents on the line at Coleraine. The rail line from Great Victoria Street in Belfast was closed because of a suspect device. Bomb hoaxes also caused Lurgan and Portadown town centres to be cleared.
The M1 motorway was closed at several points. The Armagh-Newry road and the road to Portadown were also closed, and police advised motorists to stay at home unless their journey was absolutely essential.
Early in the evening, several thousand people marched from the nationalist area of Ardoyne in north Belfast to the Torrens Street area in what they said was a peaceful protest against the intimidation of Catholic families who fled their homes there on Monday night.
A small number of Orange Order members picketed the home in Co Down of the RUC deputy chief constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan.