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The loyalist demonstration took place on Sunday, July 2, that year as planned but was banned from making its way through the nationalist Garvaghy Road on its way to Drumcree Parish Church on the northern fringe of Portadown.

This provoked disorder and protest throughout the north for the sixth consecutive year including in Derry, although the majority of the trouble was concentrated in the Belfast, north Armagh and Antrim areas.

A restricted memorandum prepared for the Secretary of State Peter Mandelson on July 6 noted: “Although the main centres were again Belfast (where troops were deployed on interfaces) and Portadown (where numbers peaked at about 500) there were for the first time crowds (50) and road closures in Londonderry, and also in Limavady.

DRUMCREE, UNITED KINGDOM - JULY 9: Loyalist Orangemen hold their rally in front of the British military's blockade of the road past the Drumcree Parish Church in Drumcree 09 July 2000. The marchers went to the military blockade of the street leading to Garvaghy Road and did not pass into the adjoining Catholic neighbourhood. (ELECTRONIC IMAGE) (Photo credit should read JONATHAN UTZ/AFP via Getty Images)

"All roads were again open by 7am. The security forces continue to have the situation well in hand and were not stretched.”

A further communiqué dated July 9 remarked: “In North Region there was a bomb scare in Londonderry's Waterside area, subsequently declared a hoax; petrol bombs were thrown at the army and then petrol bombs and stones were thrown at the police.”

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The files refer to an infamous show of strength at Drumcree that year by Ulster Defence Association (UDA) and Ulster Freedom Fighter (UFF) leader Johnny Adair who travelled to Portadown on Monday, July 3.

"Johnny Adair's convoy of pre-booked Ulsterbuses was corralled and searched at the Dungannon Roundabout, where Adair was held back.

"Police are investigating the identity of the 50 men in white tee-shirts with the UFF banner. Once whistles were blown, they withdrew.

"Total numbers at Drumcree peaked at around 200, with a hard core of some 50 remaining at 2300 hours when the security forces moved in to clear Drumcree Hill (this would suggest the UFF banner brought out a few local 'respectable' supporters,” a memo notes of events in Portadown on the first Monday of the stand-off.

A minute of a telephone conversation between the British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern noted the Taoiseach’s observations that ‘while all this was going in 20,000 Orangemen had paraded peacefully in Donegal patrolled by 8 Gardaí’.

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