N.Ireland faces parade test

Trimble says he will quit at midnight on Saturday

BELFAST, Northern Ireland -- Northern Ireland is braced for a tense weekend with the prospect of a potentially volatile parade followed by the first minister's self-imposed resignation deadline.

The parade marks the start of two weeks of hotly disputed annual marches throughout Northern Ireland by the Protestant organisation.

And First Minister David Trimble, who has threatened to quit over paramilitary decomissioning, has called for Protestent Orangemen to be allowed to march along one of the most contentious routes next week.

He says the Drumcree Orangemen should be allowed to march down the flashpoint nationalist Garvaghy Road in Portadown on July 8.

Catholics have vowed to mount their own mass protest nearby, with riot police on duty to keep the two sides apart.

The biggest Portadown parade -- banned from Garvaghy Road since 1997 -- has led to rioting in 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Speaking on the eve of the march and after talks with the head of the Northern Ireland Parades Commission, the first minister said: "I very much hope that the commission will arrive at a sensible decision on the parade, which recognises the rights of the Portadown District."

Police and troops are prepared for a potentially violent start to the marching season on Saturday when Orangemen are to march along Belfast's Springfield Road.

Church leaders have appealed for calm in advance of what could be one of the most difficult periods in Northern Ireland since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in April 1998.

Several Catholics have been targeted in a new wave of bomb attacks by loyalist paramilitaries opposed to the peace process.

Royal Ulster Constabulary Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan said he hoped serious violence could be avoided if common sense prevailed on all sides.

Sir Ronnie said he understood how deeply feelings ran over parades. He added: "I am confident with that common sense approach the violence this year can be avoided as well."

But there is a fear that individual loyalist paramilitaries will attempt to orchestrate major violence.

The Parades Commission has accepted a last minute Orange Order application asking for the parade to be allowed to proceed down Belfast's Springfield Road.

Loyalist bands would peel away from the main parade and join up again at a non-contentious part of the route.

But Springfield residents spokeswoman Frances McAuley accused the commission of bowing to RUC pressure to allow the parade to go-ahead.

She added that tension was reaching breaking point in her community.

"Unless a miracle happens and the whole thing is re-routed, we will be having a massive protest here tomorrow," she told the UK Press Association. "People are recognising Springfield is on a par with Drumcree."

Meanwhile, the British and Irish governments expect Trimble to carry out his threat to resign at midnight on Saturday.

Trimble said he will resign as leader of Northern Ireland's joint Catholic-Protestant government unless the IRA begins decommissioning its arms.

On Thursday, UK Prime Minister Tony Blair announced plans for a fresh push to stabilise the peace process next week.

Blair and the Irish prime minister Bertie Ahern said that a new bid to break the deadlock will be held followed by further intense discussions.

Blair said: "The outstanding issues are still there. They have to be dealt with. There is no other solution than to sitting down and working out the problems that remain in order that they are dealt with so that every single aspect of the Good Friday Agreement is implemented."

In a direct appeal to the IRA on the weapons issue, he said: "It is absolutely essential if we are to have a stable process in Northern Ireland that weapons are put beyond use, that there is a commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means"