RIOTING FLARES OVER PARADE MARCH 3:32 Sunday 27 May 2001 Rioting has flared when an Orange parade skirted the flashpoint Garvaghy Road in Portadown, Co Armagh. Several RUC officers were hurt in disturbances which saw petrol and acid bombs thrown. A car was also pushed into a line of police vehicles and set alight. Republicans say at least a dozen plastic bullets were fired and that the fight was provoked by loyalists breaking parade restrictions. Sinn Fein Assembly Member Dara O'Hagan criticised the Parades Commission for ignoring its appeals to move the Parkmore Junior Orange march further away from the overwhelmingly Catholic Garvaghy Road. The annual march passes the bottom of the road - as opposed to the top where Orangemen at Drumcree Parish Church have been banned from marching since 1998. Police say the march itself passed off without incident but that groups of men and youths confronted officers on public order duty. � Ananova
