Trouble flared in West Belfast today as the first bitterly contested parade of Northern Ireland's marching season took place.
Bricks and bottles were thrown over an interface wall during a nationalist demonstration on Springfield Road against the Orange parade.
The missiles came from the Protestant Shankill district, landing in the midst of the crowd massed on the other side. They then hurled back the bottles and stones while stewards guided a hasty retreat to a position of safety.
RUC officers preventing the demonstrators from venturing within view of the march were also pelted in the brief episode, the only significant incident of the day.
One woman on the Protestant side of the wall was cut by glass from a smashed bottled hurled over the peace line.
The exchanges flagged up escalating sectarian tension ahead of the big Orange march at Drumcree near Portadown, County Armagh in eight days' time.
The march itself, which emerged from Loyalist streets behind heavy iron gates on to the section of Springfield Road, passed off without incident, watched only by a handful of protesters.
However, there were complaints that two bands participating in the march carried loyalist paramilitary flags.
Sinn Fein Assembly Member Mr Gerry Kelly was part of the big demonstration contained further down the road and claimed lives could have been lost in the missile-throwing incident.
He said: "This was a peaceful protest. People were starting to move off when missiles were thrown over the wall. If it had been a blast bomb, people would have been killed. What we had here today was dozens and dozens of RUC Land Rovers, water cannon, hundreds of heavily armed RUC men to force an Orange Parade and loyalists paramilitaries on a Catholic road. Those missiles came over, attacking a peaceful crowd, and the thought did seem to be going on that the people could have been killed."
A heavy RUC and army presence moved into the area this morning to cordon off part of the Ulster Road.
Two water cannons borrowed from the Belgium government were on standby throughout the day but were not used.
Military engineers installed a barrier of concrete blocks, steel posts and barbed and razor wire but it was dismantled piece by piece and the demonstrators, numbering about 1,000, moved about 100 yards up to a line of RUC officers in riot gear.
The arrival of the parade on the Springfield Road was signalled by a siren and the demonstrators booed and chanted anti-RUC slogans.
Residents were furious that the march was allowed by the Parade Commission after protests about a paramilitary colour party last year.
They also claimed a modified route which allowed the band to join the main column of Orangemen 100 yards further up the road had been drawn up by RUC Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan and not the Orange Order.
PA