The Order has gone through many phases in its history - some more respectable

The Order has gone through many phases in its history - some more respectable than others - but for more than a century it has functioned in essence as a pan-Protestant front, helping to unify various strands within Unionism. "Siege of Drumcree" medals were later awarded to the Rev Ian Paisley and David Trimble.In Northern Ireland, July is, at the best of times, a month associated with a general rise in nervous tension.But a "bad" marching season can sour the atmosphere, play on the most sensitive nerve-endings of the two communities and seriously damage the prospects for political progress.. The vast majority of these pass off peacefully, but each year a small number generate controversy and sometimes violence.The two principal flashpoints in recent years have become Drumcree at Portadown, Co Armagh, and the Lower Ormeau Rd, south Belfast.Both of these are primarily Catholic enclaves surrounded by Protestant areas. In both cases, Catholic protests mean that the marchers are accompanied by a strong police presence.The clash of perspectives between the Protestant marchers and the Catholic residents was summarised in a recent report by academics Neil Jarman and Dominic Bryan."Each parade which is challenged is a symbolic threat to Protestant security and the Unionist position," noted the report, "while each parade which passes through a nationalist area is a restatement of the dominance of the Protestant community and the inferiority of nationalist rights."While such parades increase local tensions, they are often at their most dangerous when they assume a wider political significance.Some of the most violent clashes came in the mid-Eighties as loyalists protested against the Anglo-Irish agreement.Last year in Portadown, 800 marchers were allowed to pass through the Catholic district after three-day stand-off between the Orangemen and the RUC This was seen as a major victory by the Orange Order. The majority of marches are staged by loyalist groupings, principally the Orange Order.Recent statistics have shown that the number of loyalist parades has risen steeply, going up by almost a third over the past decade. Virtually all of these take place in what is called the marching season, which lasts from Easter to September, reaching high points in mid-July and mid-August.

July 12 is the date William of Orange won the Battle of the Boyne.The strength of feeling the marching season generates on both sides is difficult for outsiders to comprehend.In 1920, a London newspaper said: "The thrill which the genuine Orangeman finds in those demonstrations cannot be communicated to the most impressionable stranger, however devoted he may be to the British Empire."The relief which Ulster still feels at the liberation bought on the Boyne 230 years ago is unfathomable to an outsider; but these things are all very real to Orangemen."The Sixties saw Catholics taking to the streets for civil rights marches on the model of those led in the US by Martin Luther King.But within a short space of time, loyalist counter-demonstrations appeared and there were ugly clashes.It was a unionist Apprentice Boys' march in the city of Londonderry in August 1969 which resulted in the widespread disorder that led to the deployment of British troops on the streets of Northern Ireland.Since then, marches and parades have periodically been the occasion of disturbances.Northern Ireland hosts around 3,500 marches a year Around 600 have no political or sectarian overtones About 300 are organised by nationalists and republicans. Both the unionist and nationalist cultures have strong traditions of holding parades and rallies, but the Protestants have shown a particular appetite for taking to the streets. The marching season is not now just an adjunct to unionism, but a central part of it.When serious disorder broke out six times in Ulster between 1857 and 1886, the reports of all six commissions of inquiry blamed two main factors - poor policing and Orange parades.One of the reports said the [July 12] occasion was used "to remind one party of the triumph of their ancestors over those of the other, and to inculcate the feelings of Protestant superiority over their Roman Catholic neighbours". Its members still wear the traditional bowler hats and orange sashes, and carry rolled umbrellas during marches.. Ceasefires and other huge historical changes may come in and out of fashion in Northern Ireland, but the marching season, it seems, goes on forever. Its leaders deny any suggestion that it is anti-Catholic, but the movement has been consistently anti-ecumenical and opposed to religious integration.While its regulations tell members to abstain from uncharitable actions against Catholics, they are pledged to "resist the ascendancy of that church" by lawful means.During the half-century of Unionist rule in Northern Ireland, from the 1920s, most Unionist ministers and MPs were members of the Order, which is considered a powerful body in the Province. In Newtownards, Co Down, two roads were blocked for several hours.A symbol of Protestant sympathiesThe Order was founded in 1795 following a major sectarian affray in County Armagh, known as "the Battle of the Diamond", and symbolises the Protestant king William III - William of Orange - who defeated the Catholic James II at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690, since when, the Order has been the symbol of Protestant sympathies in Northern Ireland.For more than a century, the Order has functioned as a pan-Protestant front, helping to unify various strands within Unionism. Police said most of the protests took the form of holding up traffic after attending evening church services.

Some will make payment in kind in the form of company shares rather than in cash.Keith Henry, chief executive of National Power, was paid pounds 325,000 base salary last year, but could double this with short- and long-term bonuses. The long-term scheme typically gives about a third of salary.The scheme has been attacked for starting long-term performance payments once the company matches the FT-SE100 index, an undemanding target, and for paying out the full bonus if the index is beaten by only 40 per cent.United Utilities' scheme has yet to be approved by shareholders. Its directors would begin to receive their payouts if the company is merely in the top 50 of the FT-SE 100 measured by total return.The chief executive, Brian Staples, who will earn pounds 300,000 base salary this year, could receive up to 40 per cent in short-term bonus and another 87.5 per cent for the long-term scheme payable in 2000.Railtrack's chief executive, John Edmonds, could add 140 per cent to his base salary with short-term bonus and long-term share awards by the company, if it achieves the maximum on two criteria. The maximum payout comes when Railtrack earnings growth exceeds 13.5 per cent in real terms and when the second target - based on measurements by the rail regulator of train punctuality - is achieved 100 per cent.If a new long-term plan is approved in 1997, David Jones of National Grid could increase his base salary of pounds 250,000 by 74 per cent with long- and short-term awards combined.Hyder, the Welsh utility, has a long-term scheme that pays up to 50 per cent of base salary in the third year, which with short-term bonus could bring the average payout to 56 per cent a year over the period.Institutional shareholders' have made clear they accept high rewards as long as they are clearly linked to performance.But even senior executives of the companies involved admit to difficulty in following how their schemes work. They then turned and marched back to the church leaving several dozen Orangemen face to face with the RUC.The scene was surrounded by a huge security presence with dozens of Land- Rovers parked in the vicinity and British troops in the background.Police erected a fence of razor-wire, topped with a white warning ribbon, across fields to prevent any attempts by protesters to outflank RUC lines.Orangemen in around a dozen parts of Northern Ireland later staged short- lived protests in support of the Drumcree marchers, in a number of instances blocking roads. On Saturday, however, the RUC had announced that because of the possibility of disorder they would not be allowed to march back via Garvaghy Road.In a symbolic protest after attending the service the Orangemen marched to within a few inches of a line of police officers who stood in front of a dozen Land-Rovers which had been drawn up to block the narrow country road.