Loyalists have described the North's Parades Commission as a farce after their six-hour standoff with the RUC in north Belfast on Saturday.
The protest by about 100 members of the Ligoniel branch of the Apprentice Boys of Derry began after they were blocked from marching past the nationalist Ardoyne.
They were taking part in a feeder parade before the main Apprentice Boys' march in Derry. A last-minute attempt to broker a compromise which would enable them to pass Ardoyne by bus failed. They had walked from Ligoniel Orange hall, along the Crumlin Road, before being stopped at an RUC and British army cordon at the junction with Hesketh Road.
The Parades Commission had banned the Ligoniel Walkers Club from passing Ardoyne where serious rioting between nationalists and the RUC took place last month after a Twelfth of July parade. The commission said its decision was taken "against the background of continuing local community tension".
When their path was blocked, the loyalists decided to remain in north Belfast and protest rather than continue to Derry. An Apprentice Boys' spokesman, Mr Tommy Cheevers, said there was confusion between the RUC and the Parades Commission over whether they could pass Ardoyne by bus.
Mr Cheevers said the Ligoniel Walkers Club was angry. "The Parades Commission told the police that a bus constituted having a parade, therefore if they had allowed us through, they would have been breaking the law," he said.
He claimed the commission had capitulated to the threat of violence from nationalists: "We were told that if we had been allowed down the road, the parade in Londonderry would have been attacked. It is hard to reach a local accommodation if the Parades Commission is going to give in to threats like that. It is an absolute farce."
Mr Cheevers said the Apprentice Boys would be consulting their lawyers today about seeking a judicial review of the commission's decision. Mr Billy Hutchinson, an Assembly member for the Progressive Unionist Party, the UVF's political wing, also criticised the Parades Commission. He claimed it did not understand the "sectarian geography" of north Belfast.
"The Protestant community is being told they can't walk down a main road or get bused down it. I think that is ridiculous," he said. The standoff continued for 6 1/2 hours before the Apprentice Boys marched back to Ligoniel Orange hall where they then dispersed.
The Parades Commission had also placed restrictions on another feeder parade in south Belfast. The Apprentice Boys there were prevented from marching along the nationalist Lower Ormeau. They opted not to cross the Ormeau Bridge, despite having the commission's permission to do so. Instead, members boarded a bus at Annadale Embankment to Derry.
About 10,000 Apprentice Boys and 170 bands took part in the parade in Derry, one of the biggest demonstrations of the marching season.
The parade, to commemorate the 1689 Relief of Derry, passed off peacefully. Local Apprentice Boys completed a circuit of the city's walls before a wreath-laying ceremony at the cenotaph in the Diamond area of the city. They then attended a service of remembrance in St Columb's cathedral.
There was a visible RUC presence in the city centre and new crowd-control measures were in place in the Diamond. The RUC erected perspex screens to keep groups of nationalists and loyalists apart. Local RUC Insp Peter Sheridan praised the behaviour of all those involved.