Flashpoint Northern Irish parade passes peacefully

Catholic Irish nationalists protested against a contentious Protestant parade in Northern Ireland on Saturday, but amid heavy security the march passed without the violence police had feared.
The protesters were incensed the authorities had allowed around 800 Protestant "Orangemen" and bandsmen to enter a Catholic area of Belfast during the annual Whiterock parade, which has seen violent clashes in the past.
"Today's parade on the Springfield Road, accompanied by a massive PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) military operation, was a shameful spectacle," said Alex Maskey, of the Irish Republican Army's political ally Sinn Fein.
"It was a victory for intimidation, violence and threats."
A line of riot police kept a crowd of around 250 protesters well back from the Orangemen as the parade crossed the so-called peaceline separating the two communities in west Belfast.
Troops and water cannon were held in reserve nearby in case of trouble, but there was no violence as the parade passed along a short stretch of the Catholic Springfield Road before crossing back into a Protestant neighbourhood.
The march, organised by the Orange Order, the British-ruled province's largest Protestant brotherhood, represented the first major test of politicians' calls for calm during the summer "marching season", traditionally a source of tension between pro-British Protestants and pro-Irish Catholics.
Next weekend sees the bitterly contested Drumcree parade near Portadown, and the season peaks on July 12, when marches across the province celebrate the 17th century triumph of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II.
Most parades are uncontroversial, but a handful which pass through Catholic neighbourhoods cause bitter disputes that have often erupted in violence.
Orangemen say parades celebrate their culture and insist they have a right to "walk the Queen's highway", but Catholics say marches that pass through their areas are an intimidating display of triumphalism by the majority Protestant community.