DERRY is different. It's a simple analysis but that's why the weekend passed off relatively peacefully there. The two communities in Derry were gripped with great fear and anxiety in recent days, but they were not prepared to head over the brink.
"It brings a whole new connotation to the relief of Derry," said local SDLP councillor, Mr Mark Durkan, when it became apparent on Saturday afternoon that compromise - had been achieved and honour could be claimed by both sides.
Compromise, both by the Apprentice Boys and the Bogside Residents' Group (BRG), was the key to Saturday's parade concluding with the minimum of trouble and violence. The fact that the two sides had earlier spoken to each other, albeit unsuccessfully, further eased movement.
While there was great polarisation between nationalists and loyalists in Portadown during the Drumcree crisis, Protestants and Catholics in Derry realised there was t6o much to lose if their city went the way of Drumcree.
Derry has prospered over the past five years, particularly during the relative peace of the last two years. There was enough moderate opinion not to allow that to go up in smoke from unrestrained civil strife.
The legacy of Drumcree was also on people's minds. Nationalists and loyalists in Derry were prepared to take their stand, but not at all costs. A fudge was required, and that was what the city got.
Tensions were defused around noon on Saturday when the Apprentice Boys' governor, Mr Alistair Simpson, emerged from the order's memorial hall within Derry's walls to urge his members and supporters to stay calm.
"We will walk with dignity and pride to make this the biggest and best parade ever," he said. And to loud cheers he declared it was the Apprentice Boys' "firm intention to walk these walls at a time of our own choosing".
The fact that the loyal order intended marching the full length of the walls at an unspecified time was sufficient to satisfy most of the 15,000 Apprentice Boys and their supporters who had converged on the city that there was no loyalist climb down.
After making the announcement the assembled Apprentice Boys sang "God Save the Queen", punctuating the end of each verse with shouts of "No Surrender". As far as the Apprentice Boys were concerned, there had been no surrender.
It still leaves open the issue of the order parading along the sealed off contentious stretch of the walls overlooking the Bogside. But it was a fudge the BRG was prepared to live with.
The BRG in turn made its own contribution to easing tension by cancelling its planned rally at Free Derry Corner, which was to take place during the height of the Apprentice Boys' march.
Had that gone ahead there was potential for serious confrontation between nationalists and loyalists, with the police in the middle.
An incident around 1 a.m. on Saturday morning also helped create the climate for compromise. At that time, Mr Donncha Mac Niallais, the BRG spokesman, and a group of nationalists who were on marshalling duty at Butcher's Gate leading into the Bogside, learned that 13 Apprentice Boys wanted to carry out their tradition of touching the pillars of the gate, and of other gates nearby.
According to Mr Mac Niallais, after some negotiation, the BRG marshalls accompanied the 13 Apprentices as they carried out their ritual at Butcher's Gate and other adjacent gates, close to nationalist estates. It was a fairly minor gesture, but it reflected the general spirit of accommodation.
The verbal commentary from the main protagonists also helped. Mr Simpson steered a careful course. He was both moderate in his comments while equally ensuring that there could be no accusation of loyalists having surrendered on principle.
Asked when the Apprentice Boys would have their parade along the walls, he teased journalists with the refrain: "That's for us to know and you to find out." The Apprentice Boy and local DUP councillor, Mr Gregory Campbell, summed up the order's attitude: "We had to drive a middle road between acquiescence and walking away, which we were not prepared to do, and bloody confrontation which we did not want.
Mr Mac Niallais was equally temperate in his comments. Both he and the leading Sinn Fein figure, Mr Martin McGuinness, paid qualified tribute to the Apprentice Boys.
