Apprentice Boys on the march

Ulster Parade Ends in Violence

The disturbances came as the parade was drawing to a close. Loyalist supporters and nationalists hurled abuse at one another as the parade passed between them through the city centre. Some of the marchers were also seen gesticulating and shouting at nationalists standing behind police lines.

Police in riot gear came under attack as they attempted to disperse loyalist demonstrators. There were running skirmishes, and missiles were thrown. A number of injuries have been reported, none of them serious.

Donnacha Mac Niallais, representing residents of the nationalist Bogside area of the city, described the scenes as "a disgrace," and said it put into question further parades in the city.

Some marchers taunted nationalist bystanders

Nationalists from the Bogside had called off plans to mount a protest in opposition to the parade after police ordered the re-routing of a number of feeder parades in Belfast and villages in Co Antrim and Co Londonderry.

The Apprentice Boys were commemorating the siege of Derry by Catholic forces in 1688-89.

In the morning about 300 members of the Order marched along the most contentious route of the parade, a short stretch of the ancient city walls overlooking the Bogside. A single band accompanied the marchers and a lone drum beat out as the parade passed along the Bogside.

A controlled explosion was carried out on abandoned van

Controlled Explosion After Security Alert

The van had been hijacked by two masked and armed men in the nationalist Galliagh area of Derry.

Even before the all-clear was given the upper deck of the bridge was reopened to pedestrians and hundreds of spectators flocked across in advance of the main parade.

Alistair Simpson, the Governor of the Apprentice Boys, expressed his shock at the bomb alert and said it was a slap in the face for those who had worked hard to bring peace to the city on the parade day.

Mr Simpson said the "the majority of the people of this city must come together and say enough is enough."

There were minor disturbances in the run-up to the parade when on Friday night Catholic youths attacked Protestant businesses, breaking windows and splattering paint over shop fronts.

Lifting the siege of Derry - 1997

Pageant For Peace

The audience outside the Apprentice Boys headquarters was small but significant. It included Sinn Fein councillors, and the city's mayor, who belongs to the nationalist SDLP.

The Catholic mayor of Londonderry, Councillor Martin Bradley, said he hoped the pageant would become an annual event - and a tourist attraction.

Catholics and Protestants shake hands

Alistair Graham, chairman of the government appointed Parades Commission, was in Londonderry and he too was enthusiastic about the pageant. "It's tremendous to see everybody enjoying themselves in something of a carnival atmosphere", he said.