After a build-up of tensions in the two communities in recent days, the marching season has peaked and passed off relatively peacefully in Northern Ireland.
Little over a week ago, the Drumcree parade attracted the smallest turn-out of Orange Order members and supporters in a decade, while 18 of the 19 parades to mark the traditional celebration of The Twelfth yesterday did not, at the time of writing, generate any major outbreak of violence last night. There was one exception and it remains to be seen whether it will have consequences outside of the Ardoyne.
There had been growing fears among community leaders that the Parades Commission's restriction on bandmen and their supporters making their return march past the interface with the nationalist Ardoyne in North Belfast could trigger sectarian violence. Senior unionist and nationalist politicians called for calm, sensitive policing and a common sense on all sides. That was not to be. The last-minute decision by the Police Service of Northern Ireland to over-rule the finding of the Commission, on grounds of public order, resulted in violent street clashes between nationalists and Orange Order supporters last night.
For this year, more than any other in recent times, a convulsion in the marching season could have the most unforeseen consequences. Let us hope that it can be contained. The political landscape in Northern Ireland has been transformed since The Twelfth last year. The Democratic Unionist Party has replaced the Ulster Unionist Party as the dominant unionist voice while, simultaneously, Sinn Féin has eclipsed the SDLP. Nobody knows with any certainty what this new era will bring.
But, for all of the scenes of corridors of steel, there are some straws in the wind. It is noteworthy that The Twelfth, in all of its colourful and celebratory manifestation, is a mere shadow of itself in the year that the two communities have opted to support the extremes. It is discouraging that nationalism has not become big enough to let the Orange Order have a tribal demonstration, albeit with its 300 or so supporters, without getting bothered about it for one day. And it is disconcerting that unionism has not become big enough to realise that a coat-trailing of their heritage, as they did last night, is no longer in their own long-term interest.
In looking for hopeful signs, the normality of the warning issued yesterday by the assistant Chief Constable, Mr Duncan McCausland, is interesting. "No one wants to see a situation where a parade or protest descends into violence and disorder. People get injured. Property gets damaged. Life can be put at risk," he said.
The considerations on the day were tribal. But, for omens of hope, one should look to the actions of Mr Gerry Kelly, of Sinn Féin, in the melee and the nuances in speech by Mr Jeffrey Donaldson on such an Orange day. It remains to be seen whether this Twelfth is the harbinger of a positive climate for negotiations in the autumn.