A deal which ensured that a loyalist march passed off peacefully in Derry at the weekend should be an example for both sides in dispute over controversial parades, according to the governor of the Apprentice Boys, Mr Alistair Simpson.
More than 10,000 Apprentice Boys and 170 bands took part in the parade through the city centre on Saturday. Unlike previous years, many shops remained open for most of the day.
Even bins had been sealed as part of a security sweep. But about a dozen bottles were thrown by a crowd of nationalist onlookers.
Some bandsmen from Portadown, Co Armagh, broke ranks and attempted to surge towards the onlookers after one of their members was struck by a missile.
The RUC and parade stewards moved swiftly to prevent a potentially serious confrontation. At various stages of the 2 1/2-hour march, taunts and insults were exchanged by both sides. Tension was highest in the flashpoint Diamond area, the part of the route closest to the Bogside.
Security was heavy, with police and parade stewards keeping nationalist and unionist groups apart. Steel barriers were also used to create a buffer zone. However, the march, to commemorate the ending of the siege of Derry in 1689, passed off without major incident.
In the past nationalists have staged counter-protests and there have been serious disturbances leading to millions of pounds worth of damage.
This year nationalist representatives agreed not to stage a counter-demonstration after several loyalist feeder parades, including one on the Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast, were rerouted by the Parades Commission. They also agreed to defuse any potential disturbances.
After the parade Mr Simpson said: "I'm very happy with the way things went. There was a good jovial mood. Everybody was happy. All who said they would do their best to make it a quiet, peaceful day have done their duty."
He said all sides in dispute over other parades should take note of events in Derry. "We would now seem to be the flagship of Northern Ireland," he added.
Earlier a bomb alert on a railway line had hampered trains carrying hundreds of marchers to the city. However, train operator Translink bussed them over the final stage from Coleraine to Derry.
The SDLP condemned the bomb warning as "a childish and pathetic action" carried out by "morally bankrupt" people.
Supt Peter Sheridan said afterwards: "We are very pleased with what has happened in the city. This must be one of the most peaceful parades we have had in recent years."
He saluted the work done to reach an accommodation.
The talks which led to the deal were chaired by local Derry businessmen. One of them, Mr Garvan O'Doherty, said he was delighted that the parade had passed off peacefully.
Mr Donnacha Mac Niallas of the Bogside Residents' Group said: "There were some minor incidents, paramilitary displays and provocation by the RUC of young nationalists. But all in all we think it has been quite positive." In Belfast the Apprentice Boys had boarded buses for Derry without staging a protest about their march being banned from the nationalist Lower Ormeau.