Rioting broke out in Belfast last night during a security operation to allow Orangemen to march near nationalist homes in Ardoyne and on the Springfield Road.
A crowd of about 400 nationalists petrol-bombed and stoned police officers, who fired at least 20 plastic bullets in the Springfield Road area of west Belfast. Several civilians and police officers were injured.
In Ardoyne, in north Belfast, about 500 nationalists protested as Orangemen marched along the Crumlin Road, passing Catholic shops and homes. The protesters threw stones, fireworks and bottles.
The Springfield Road and Ardoyne were the two controversial routes for Orangemen heading home from the main Twelfth demonstration in Belfast. There was a heavy security presence in both areas.
In Ardoyne, police seized more than 80 spiked metal missiles from the roofs of local shops. Bricks and crates of bottles, which police said were to be used for petrol-bombs, were also found.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland described the find as a "sinister development".
A local SDLP councillor, Mr Martin Morgan, criticised the massive police presence in Ardoyne, which involved scores of officers in full riot gear, accompanied by dogs, as "totally inappropriate". It was "very heavy-handed" and had prevented residents from moving freely around their own area, he said.
The PSNI defended its operation. Assistant Chief Constable Alan McQuillan had earlier warned that Sinn Féin was planning to bus in hundreds of youths from across the North for a protest against the parade. Republican paramilitaries were planning to stage a major riot afterwards, he claimed.
Mr Gerry Kelly, a Sinn Féin Assembly member, denied the allegation and accused the PSNI of trying to set a trap for Ardoyne nationalists, who "thankfully" had acted wisely. "It was an outrageous piece of black propaganda which has criminalised and demonised a whole area," he said.
More than 200 nationalists took part in a protest in Ardoyne yesterday morning as Orangemen, on their way to join the main demonstration, passed the area. The crowd shouted "No Sectarian Marches" and whistled and jeered at the marchers, but there were no violent clashes.
Similar scenes took place on the Springfield Road yesterday morning as about 150 nationalists protested at a feeder Orange parade. Earlier, army explosives experts defused a bomb in Belfast city-centre close to the Orange Order's main parade route. A van containing a detonator and a large amount of petrol was abandoned in Little Donegall Street. The security operation followed a telephone warning. Security sources blamed dissident republicans for the planned attack. Senior Orange officials said that the device was aimed at killing their members and supporters.
Thousands of Orangemen took part in the main demonstration in Belfast. They walked the nine-mile route from Carlisle Circus in the city-centre to the field at Edenderry. Addressing Orangemen at Edenderry, the Imperial Secretary, Mr John McCrea, condemned Sinn Féin and said that there was no place in government for those who had not, in word and deed, renounced violence for political purposes.
Four years after the signing of the Belfast Agreement, and despite public and private assurances from the British Prime Minister, Mr McCrea said he believed lies had been told. "Were the people of Northern Ireland conned? Many now believe they were, and Mr Blair has failed to deliver on his promises," he said.
Mr McCrea also condemned those Orangemen who had attacked the police at Drumcree and said they would be dealt with by internal procedures.