Standoff at Drumcree

Troops have set up a wire perimeter around parts of Drumcree

PORTADOWN, Northern Ireland -- Security forces are keeping apart rival Protestants and Catholics in a small Northern Irish village that has become a focal point for sectarian differences.

Hundreds of Protestant Orange Order men are camped at a barb wire fence barricade near the Catholic Garvaghy Road in Drumcree.

On the other side of the ring of steel Catholics intent on ensuring the Protestants do not enter the road -- and in between police and army officers.

The "Drumcree Sunday" parade by up to 2,000 members of the staunchly pro-British Orange Order commemorates battlefield victories over Irish Catholics.

MORE STORIES Q&A: Tension at Drumcree

But for the fourth year running the Northern Ireland Parades Commission banned the Orangemen from entering Catholic parts of the village including Garvaghy Road.

Protestants insist a ban on marching their traditional route is an infringement of civil and religious liberties, while Catholics argue equally vehemently that the marches are humiliating.

Since the parades commission's first ban, Drumcree has become a rallying call for both sides of the sectarian divide and has been the scene of violent confrontation.

Despite the standoff this year's march has so far been peaceful.

Nigel Dawson, secretary of the Portadown Orangemen, asked a senior police officer standing at the barricade to "remove this obscene obstruction."

When the officer refused he said: "We will continue to maintain our stand here until our civil and religious liberties have been restored and we may walk the Garvaghy Road."

Both sides hurled abuse rather than stones or petrol bombs across the barricade. Catholics shouted "4-0" while Protestants yelled: "We haven't gone away, we're still here."

Before the march Orange leader David Burrows told the marchers, "Forget about the provocation that we might have along the route. We are a dignified institution.

Catholic protesters were prevented from reaching another march last week

"We walk with pride, with our colours as we have done for so many years."

Orangemen have maintained a continuous protest on the hill at Drumcree since they were first successfully prevented from parading down the Garvaghy Road in 1998.

Nationalist residents argue there must be face-to-face dialogue and local agreement before any march. They accuse the Order of being sectarian and triumphalist.

Orangemen will not take part in direct talks because they say the residents' groups are being orchestrated by Sinn Fein.