The rioting in Derry this weekend, in which hardliners on both sides of the sectarian divide appeared intent on fomenting trouble, serves to underline the fragility of the peace process. A Saturday in December - which should have been notable only for the pre-Christmas bustle on the streets - was to endure the worst day of violence since the restoration of the IRA ceasefire in July. By yesterday morning, over 1,000 petrol bombs had been hurled and 160 plastic bullets had been fired; an 11-year-old boy remains in hospital; five RUC officers were also injured.
There will be understandable concern that immense damage may already have been done to Derry's economic renaissance by the spectacle of masked youths hurling petrol bombs and mounting makeshift barricades. The Bishop of Derry and Raphoe, Dr Mehaffy, spoke movingly of how the good name of Derry was "trailed in the mud" as the antagonistsfought their pitched battle. He spoke about the feelings of "dismay, anger, hurt and frustration" in the city.
There is fault on all sides. For many in the Bogside, the day-long parade of 3,000 Apprentice Boys around the nearby Diamond was seen as a form of ritualised baiting. In hindsight, it seem inexplicable that a parade with a clear potential for disorder was not rescheduled by the Apprentice Boys perhaps to a Sunday morning, to minimise the possibility of violence - and to allow the normal commercial life of the city to proceed on a busy Saturday. The RUC's decision to provide only a limited re-routing of the march, away from nationalist areas, is also open to question.
Once it became clear that the march around the Diamond was to proceed, some form of confrontation with local residents was inevitable. For all that, some residents are vulnerable to the charge that they failed to impose any kind of order when scores of youths - some reportedly as young as 10 - began the violence. There are also grounds for believing that not of all of the disturbances on Saturday were a spontaneous response to events as they unfolded; much of it appeared to have been well organised and orchestrated.
Mr Mark Durkan of the SDLP is correct when he talks of a "shared failure" in Derry this weekend. The Apprentice Boys, the residents and the RUC must all accept some of the blame for the failure to achieve compromise - and for the damaging consequences.
It remains to be seen whether the new draft legislation, aimed at resolving the parades issue, provides a better means of averting inter-community strife. The draft Bill transfers responsibility for decisions on contested parades from the RUC to the independent Parades Commission, although the Chief Constable will have the power to challenge any ruling made by the Commission. The hostile response to the proposals from some in the Orange Order and from some residents' groups does not augur well. But most fair-minded people will welcome the thrust of the proposals and acknowledge that they are designed to avoid the kind of violence and polarisation that was witnessed in Derry this weekend.