To the relief of local residents, the least threatening place to be in Portadown yesterday morning was the Garvaghy Road. As the parade made its way past the heavy RUC presence outside St John's Catholic church at the top of the street, the music stopped in line with conditions laid down by the Parades Commission.
The only sound was their steady drumbeat mixed with the whirring of an army helicopter overhead. The sombre drum rhythm could be heard inside the church where locals were attending Mass. One man had brought his baby out to the church porch. "We are sick of it but we put up with it," he said.
Outside, a few dozen locals stood, arms crossed, staring in the direction of the marchers who were mostly hidden from view by RUC vehicles. Padraigin Drinan, solicitor for local residents, said: "This is the best behaviour they have ever shown, they are obviously trying to impress the Parades Commission so that they will be allowed to march down the Garvaghy Road on Sunday." in Drinan, who acts as solicitor for local residents.
Things became more tense up at Drumcree Hill, though not nearly as heated as expected on what turned out to be an uncomfortably clammy day. A couple of hundred Orangemen stood opposite police lines while Sunday service went on inside Drumcree church.
Some tried to force their way past the police in their riot gear but were held back as minor scuffles ensued. Cheers and roars and whistles went up as stones and other missiles were thrown towards police and media. A couple of teenagers climbed on to two Saxon armoured personnel carriers, used to push back the Orangemen, draping a red-and-white UFF flag across one of them.
Co Antrim Orangeman Mark Harbinson suggested loyalist leaders should stop "leading from behind the lines" and take a tip from Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly, who was prepared to get his head split for his cause when he was recently hit by an RUC baton off the Ormeau Road.
Observing the scene was Brian Currin, the South African mediator who is liasing with Garvaghy Road residents and the Orange Order in relation to the parades. "If the situation is extremely violent this week, it will make the process much more difficult after July," he said. The SDLP's Brid Rodgers said she was relieved that so far there had not been any violence. At the nearby community centre on the Garvaghy Road, residents association spokesman Brendan Mac Cionnaith said the Orangemen had put on a "big nice display" that had the potential to erupt into violence at any stage.
Meanwhile, the crowd at Drumcree was dispersing, with some suggesting the Euro 2000 football final was partly responsible for their relatively speedy retreat. But the message had been clear - they weren't giving up.