The Orange Order is preparing a plan for the possible mobilisation of its members across the United Kingdom to travel to support Portadown members at Drumcree.
At a weekend meeting of Orange leaders from Northern Ireland, England and Scotland in Liverpool, concern was expressed at the British government's "failure to resolve the ongoing deadlock over the parades issue". Orangemen in Portadown, Co Armagh, are insisting they will march along the Garvaghy Road in July.
There was a significant security presence in Portadown on Saturday as around 800 Orangemen paraded through the town centre in the latest "Drumcree Protest" parade organised by Portadown Orange District.
Several hundred spectators who gathered in Portadown cheered as the Orangemen, accompanied by DUP leader, Dr Ian Paisley, made their way through the town centre en route to Drumcree church. It is almost 300 days since the Parades Commission banned the Portadown District Orangemen from marching down the Garvaghy Road, and in his address, Dr Paisley accused the British government of "failing in its responsibility" to apply the rule of law and order in Portadown by not dealing with the "lawbreakers who were preventing the completion of the Drumcree Orange parade".
Meanwhile both communities in Portadown have accused each other of "orchestrating a deliberate campaign of intimidation".
The Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition has accused loyalists of forcing a Catholic family from their home in the Park Road area of the town on Friday night.
Loyalists, however, accused nationalists of attacking Protestant homes close to the Garvaghy Road following Saturday's Orange parade.
A spokesperson for the Park Road Residents' Association said: "The homes attacked all belonged to senior citizens, the majority of whom are all in their late 70s. . ."
An Orange parade was prevented from crossing the Ormeau Bridge in south Belfast yesterday by the RUC in accordance with a ban imposed by the Parades Commission.
After handing over a letter of protest, the Orangemen sang hymns and then dispersed.
Meanwhile, the Lower Ormeau Concerned Community (LOCC) said it had renewed its offer of direct dialogue with the Orange Order in an effort to resolve the issue of contentious parades in the area.