Nationalists and loyalists threw stones and bottles at each other across the peaceline during an Orange Order march in west Belfast at the weekend. Hundreds of RUC officers in full riot gear moved on to the Springfield Road to allow the demonstration through.
In the first controversial parade of the marching season, British soldiers and RUC officers created a buffer zone to keep residents and marchers apart on Saturday. Water cannons, on loan from Belgium, were on hand but not used.
About 1,000 nationalists protested against the annual parade to Whiterock Orange Hall.
Nationalist youths hurled missiles at RUC lines but were ordered to stop and physically restrained by local IRA members. They were also stopped from making petrol bombs. Senior IRA activists were present, including a member of its Army Council.
Nationalists let off a siren and blew whistles as the parade passed. The protesters jeered and chanted anti-RUC slogans. Republican songs were played on a public address system. Nationalists and loyalists threw bricks, bottles and stones at each other. A woman on the Protestant side was cut by glass. Loyalists blamed nationalists for provoking them. Nationalists claimed their protest was peaceful and that the first missiles were hurled by loyalists. The route approved by the Parades Commission caused the bands and marchers to split for a short time. The Orangemen walked along Ainsworth Street, into Ainsworth Link and Workman Avenue, then out through the peaceline gate to the Springfield Road. At that point, they passed nationalist houses from which a group of children waved Celtic shirts and booed.
The bands had to walk through the former Mackies factory and then on to the Springfield Road at Flush Bend, where they rejoined the parade. The Parades Commission had placed restrictions on the bands playing music.
Nationalists condemned the decision to allow the march. Ms Frances McAuley from the Springfield Residents' Action Group said the commission was without "credibility or morality" and called on it to resign.
"The ruling was a big blow to us. It allowed two loyalist parades rather than one," she said. "The Orange Order speaks to no one and breaks every rule in the book, yet they got even more than what they wanted. It does not say much for the sort of society that has been created after the Good Friday agreement. The police are still behaving like thugs."
Earlier, the British army had erected a barricade of steel, concrete and barbed and razor wire across the Springfield Road. RUC notices on the barricade said: "You are not permitted beyond this point. To do so is to breach the Parades Commission determination." There were clashes with local people when soldiers attempted to move into one man's garden. A man claimed his life had been threatened by an RUC officer when he objected to the British army's behaviour.
The protesters dismantled the barricade and started to run up the Springfield Road to where the march was due to pass. They were stopped by rows of RUC officers in full riot gear.
A Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Tom Hartley, said: "The security force presence shows that the Orange Order can still march anywhere they want, that they can march into nationalist areas, and that the old agenda of Orange domination and coattrailing is still in place." The residents also objected to the Orange bands marching through the Mackies site, which is British government property.