‘Careful words’ help maintain calm in North

Cool heads helped maintain calm in Northern Ireland during the peak of this year’s marching season, the North’s justice minister said.

Police, Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers, and senior Stormont politicians have lauded the peaceful outcome of the Twelfth of July celebrations, which followed united unionist appeals for no trouble and nationalist efforts to defuse tensions.

Thousands of loyal order members commemorated the victory of Protestant King William of Orange over Catholic King James II at the 1690 Battle of the Boyne, but there was virtually no confrontation and the flashpoint Ardoyne parade in North Belfast ended without violence.