Adams hoping for peaceful marching season

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has said he hopes this year's loyalist marching season will be less violent than last year's.

Mr Adams said his party had been in contact with church groups, trade unions, community workers and loyalists in an effort calm tensions in interface areas of Belfast.

MR Adams said: "The easy thing in this situation is to blame the other side and the easy thing for the media is to present everything as one side's as bad as the other.

"The hard thing is actually to go in on the ground and to deal with these issues almost on a personal basis with victimised communities, but I think that at least the mood music which is being set by elements of unionism is more positive than previously."