Peaceful start to marching season

The North'sloyalist marching season got off to a peaceful start today.

Thousands of members of the Apprentice Boys paraded from some 60 points to attend rallies which all passed off peacefully.

Contentious feeder parades that pass nationalist areas also avoided trouble in north, east and south Belfast.

There was a low key security presence in North Belfast where local Apprentice Boys passed the Ardoyne – scene of many clashes in past years.

Around 100 nationalist residents protested peacefully when the marchers passed in the morning on their way to the main parade in Ballymena, Co Antrim.

Roger Poole, new chairman of the Parades Commission, said it augured well for the summer ahead. It had been “a very good day”, he said.

Mr Poole watched the outbound march through Ardoyne and commented: “I thought it was a very, very dignified parade and a very, very dignified protest.

“I think it bodes well for the future – it is what we asked for and what we got.

“People are talking to us and I hope we can get to a point where people can start talking to one another as well.”

There were a number of key parades, the largest in Ballymena, where around 5,000 Apprentice Boys gathered and marched without incident.