Scores of bright new Tricolours were fluttering from lamp-posts and rooftops along the Garvaghy Road yesterday morning as a large brown envelope containing the Parades Commission ruling on the Drumcree parade was delivered to the local community centre.
Mrs Donna O'Hara was the first to emerge from a meeting of residents, relief written all over her face. "It's brilliant. I never slept all night. It was like waiting for somebody belonging to you to die.
"Now, hopefully, there will be nobody beaten off the road or shot at, and we can relax like everyone else."
An elderly man said it was about time such a decision was taken. "They pushed us into this area, and now they want to tramp all over us," he said.
The general mood along the Garvaghy Road was far from celebratory. As TV crews started to arrive, some passing motorists sounded horns.
But most people were mindful that the ruling could be overturned next Sunday by the Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, on the advice of the RUC Chief Constable, Mr Ronnie Flanagan.
The general feeling was that neither Mr Flanagan nor Dr Mowlam could be trusted. Everyone pointed out that a similar decision was reversed in 1996 after a siege by Orangemen.
Mr Breandan Mac Cionnaith, the Residents' Coalition spokesman, welcomed the ruling, but said that because of the events of 1996, a protest by residents would go ahead as planned next Sunday.
"We have absolutely no confidence in the RUC's ability to uphold or enforce this decision," he said. Both the RUC and the Parades Commission had been notified of the protest and no restrictions had been placed on it.
Mr Mac Cionnaith has so far refused to say if nationalists from other areas will be asked to take part in the protest. Some residents believe that in the event of large numbers of Orangemen gathering to oppose the ruling, nationalists should congregate in equal numbers to prevent the parade being forced through.
A large majority of residents backed such an approach at a meeting of the coalition more than a month ago. Women from the Garvaghy Road also visited nationalist areas of Belfast in recent weeks to canvass support.
Mr Mac Cionnaith said yesterday that he could not say what form the protest would take. "That will become obvious over the next couple of days. I am not going to try to hype up the situation today."
He said it was a matter of regret that Orangemen had refused to meet for talks. "We are very conscious of the fact that the Orange Order and its supporters are currently threatening all sorts of disruption and the use of force to get this decision overturned."
Mr Mac Cionnaith called on the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, "to affirm publicly a commitment given by his government on April 10th to ensure equality of treatment under the law for all citizens, and to ensure that he deploys all his available resources to uphold this legally-binding decision."
He appealed to Protestant church leaders and unionist politicians to urge restraint upon members of their community.