NATIONALIST residents in a Co Antrim village have claimed there is a "feeling of dread" ahead of a controversial loyalist parade.
Hundreds of loyalists are expected to take part in the annual Ballymaconnelly Sons of Conquerors Flute Band march in Rasharkin tonight.
Loyalists are angry after the Parades Commission restricted the number of bands to 25 and ordered them to disperse before 9pm.
Bands have also been ordered to play a single drumbeat while walking along a section of the village's Main Street, while restrictions have been placed on flying paramilitary flags.
Earlier this week the Parades Commission rejected two separate requests for the determination to be reviewed.
Two nationalist groups, Rasharkin Residents' Collective and Rasharkin Residents' Association, have been
granted permission to hold separate protests involving 50 people at each.
The latest ruling comes after an uncle of three children killed in a UVF arson attack called for the parade to be banned.
Frankie Quinn's nephews Richard (11), Mark (10) and Jason Quinn (9) died after their home in the Protestant Carnaney estate in Ballymoney was petrol-bombed on July 12 1998.
The boys are buried side-by-side in St Mary's cemetery in their mother's native Rasharkin, while several members of the family live in the village including their grandmother Irene Patton.
It has been claimed that in the past people taking part in the parade have taunted nationalist protesters with jibes about the tragedy, as well as references to the UDA murder of four Catholic men in Castlerock in 1993.
Rasharkin Residents' Collective spokesman Sean Hanna said people in the majority nationalist village are anxious ahead of the parade.
"Tensions seem to be rising at the moment, there's a feeling of dread in the village," he said.
"As far as we are concerned this parade would be better in Ballymoney than Rasharkin, it does not go to a church or is connected to a loyal order."
Mr Hanna added that the expected policing operation surrounding the parade will "cost a massive amount of public money".
Leanne Peacock of Rasharkin Residents' Association criticised the loyal-ist band for failing to engage with local people, saying the "Parades Commission were right to take further action against the band given their consistent refusal to take part in meaningful engagement with residents.
"This lack of dialogue is seen as blatant disrespect for the people who live in the village of Rasharkin and whose lives are severely disrupted as a result of the excesses of the parade."
However, Ballymoney-based UUP councillor Darryl Wilson said he would treat claims that loyalists taunted nationalist about the deaths of the Quinn children "with a pinch of salt".
"I don't think anybody would be making any jibes or remarks about that, I would be disgusted and more than surprised," he said.
He said local loyalists "feel aggrieved" about the restrictions placed on the parade and insisted those taking part have "conducted themselves in an exemplary fashion over the years".
* OPPOSED: Rasharkin Residents ' Collective chairman Sean Hanna and Frankie Quinn the uncle of the three murdered Quinn children