Troops ready for Ulster flare-up

ONE THOUSAND extra troops are being drafted in to Northern Ireland amid concerns of disturbances at "Drumcree 4" - next Sunday's proposed Orange march along the Catholic Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh.

Orangemen claim the parade will this morning be re-routed in a manner which is unacceptable to them, when the Parades Commission hands down its judgement on their application to march.

The prospect of a fourth summer of bitter and damaging confrontation on the streets of Portadown has cast a shadow over the first meeting of the new Belfast Assembly which is to take place on Wednesday.

Of the 108 members elected in last week's assembly poll, almost three- quarters support the Good Friday agreement and its blueprint for the assembly, north-south links, and a wide-ranging programme of prisoner release and changes in policing and the law.

Most of the agreement's supporters were disappointed in the drop in support for David Trimble's Ulster Unionist Party and the accompanying strong showing of Ian Paisley and other anti-agreement Unionists. But Mr Paisley received nowhere near enough votes to stop the assembly functioning as planned.

The final distribution of the 108 seats, following a two-day count, saw Mr Trimble and supporters gaining 30 seats and Mr Paisley and his allies securing 28, with a further eight going to centrist parties. On the nationalist side, both the Social Democratic and Labour Party and Sinn Fein made strong showings, John Hume's party winning 24 seats while the republicans took 18.

On Wednesday, Mr Trimble is expected to become First Minister of the assembly, with Mr Hume as his deputy.

Out on the streets, however, the security forces are concentrating on the prospect of trouble at Drumcree, where the possibility of confrontation means that thousands of police and troops have been deployed in recent years.

Three battalions have arrived discreetly in recent weeks. The troops, from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, the Highlanders and the Queen's Dragoon Guards, are technically under the command of the Army General Officer Commanding in Northern Ireland.

Feelings in Orange circles in Co Armagh are said to be running high, the Orangemen insisting that the march should be allowed despite the opposition of local Catholic residents. Orangeman Denis Watson, who stood for the assembly on an anti-agreement ticket, was elected with a strong showing.

Two loyalist parades passed off peacefully yesterday, although on Saturday a parade in west Belfast resulted in some disturbances.

At the weekend David Trimble called for movement from Sinn Fein on the issues of marching and IRA arms de-commissioning. He said: "The republican movement is not delivering the peace that we wanted. Looking forward into the next few weeks I am very concerned about violence returning because of the actions of the republican movement." He predicted a "bumpy ride" for the assembly.

In Ireland, the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, said that in his view the assembly was workable, adding: "Clearly there is strong support to make it work. If the Ulster Unionist Party had done a bit better, then things would be a bit easier for Mr Trimble, but the fact is that he is still in a strong position."

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mo Mowlam, said the results were not as clear-cut as she would have liked, adding that although the balance of parties was "tight" the assembly had a workable majority.

She went on: "David Trimble has shown great courage and determination and has moved this progress forward considerably and shown himself as a leader of Unionism. I look forward to the progress he and John Hume will make with the other parties."

Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein described the decommissioning issue as a red herring, insisting that his party was entitled to places on the new executive as a result of its electoral mandate. He added: "It is time for justice. It is time for equality. It is time for Sinn Fein to go into government."

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