Saturday's violence was planned and co-ordinated, writes Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor
Just 126 paces separate the route the bandsmen from the Shankill Protestant Boys and the Sons of Ulster wanted and that which the Parades Commission allowed them to take.
Yet the dispute over 126 paces along the mostly nationalist Springfield Road sparked the fiercest recent confrontation between so-called loyalists and forces of the Crown which they pledge to defend.
The resulting violence, played out across a series of sectarian flashpoints across north, west and east Belfast as well as towns and villages in south Antrim, included the first gunfire witnessed in years.
The rerouted Orange parade made a point of visiting the "peace line" barrier to the Springfield Road at Workman Avenue, locked shut because of the Parades Commission decision.
For some time the bandsmen played loudly on the other side of the 4-metre structure, reinforced by three steel bars designed to keep them out.
After renditions of The Sash, which could only have been played to antagonise the small body of nationalists on the other side, concerted efforts were repeatedly made to burst through the barricade.
The loyalist crowd heaved time and again against the security gates causing them to bulge alarmingly and prompting the Royal Irish Rangers to reinforce the barricade with armoured vehicles.
As stones and bottles were thrown over the barricade at nationalists in a further attempt to provoke, two Orangeman scaled the gate with their lodge's banner and draped it over onto the nationalist side. The sense of hatred and antagonism was palpable.
A short time later, the bandsmen, halted on their route because of nearby rioting, turned on the police and attacked the water cannon which was preparing to deploy. Many of them appeared to revel in having the water cannon directed on them, dancing triumphantly.
Minutes later, as the black smoke billowed upwards from burning security vehicles on the adjacent West Circular Road, the shockwaves from blast bombs thrown at police and soldiers could be felt. This was rapidly followed by the rattle of gunfire and a fizzing sound overhead which sent everyone crouching for cover.
Shortly afterwards a man clutching a wound to his shoulder was helped from the scene. A glance around the city from the elevated Springfield Road showed plumes of smoke rising in other parts.
The intensity of the planned and co-ordinated violence illustrates not so much a short-term lapse in sanity as the final exhaustion of beleaguered unionist patience, claims north Belfast Ulster Unionist Fred Cobain.
He saw at close quarters the scale and intensity of both the rioting on loyalist streets as well as some individual and lunatic acts of utter nihilism. But it is doubtful if his prompt attempts to provide logical and reasoned explanation for what appeared utterly mindless behaviour will carry the argument.
Sir Hugh Orde said on Saturday evening, as violence flared across south Antrim, that the Orange Order had much responsibility to bear. For a man who often professes to leave politics to the politicians, Sir Hugh has an adept touch in highly charged and politically sensitive occasions.
But while he may have landed a punch on those he blames for the worst violence tackled by any UK police force, he will not have to deal with the political consequences.
That will fall to the Northern Ireland Office, which will attempt to set out its stall for the forthcoming series of talks today and on Wednesday when Northern Secretary Peter Hain makes what could be a significant speech to the Police Federation.
A serious problem for both governments now is the apparent instability within unionism. Ceasefires in tatters, internecine feuding and mayhem on the streets do not make solid foundations for an enduring political accommodation.
The weekend anarchy may have been over 126 paces of nationalist road, but as Fred Cobain stresses, those who resorted to violence need something to help them get out of the hole they are digging for themselves.
"These people feel decoupled from the rest of us in society," he says. "Unless we deal with [their] points we are going to have to deal with another Saturday night next week or the weekend after. What we are trying to do is address those issues but we need help. We need help from the police, the statutory agencies and from other political parties."