ROYAL Black Preceptory officers and nationalist resident leaders along the Fermanagh Border ensured that parades passed off peacefully on Saturday.
There had been fears of confrontation at marches in Newtownbutler and Roslea but this did not materialise although one stage tension was high in Newtownbutler.
After a half hour stand off on Saturday morning between the 50 marchers and 150 protesters, the Black Institution agreed to march from its hall out of Newtownbutler and not to parade through the village in the evening, only gathering on the outskirts to play God Save The Queen before dispersing.
This compromise seemed unacceptable at first to residents so it was put to the nine member Residents' Association Committee.
The deal was accepted by five votes to four although this angered many residents who challenged their representatives.
The local Sinn Fein councillor Mr Gerry McHugh, was among those who helped to restore calm.
The 50 marchers from Newtownbutler Temperance RBP and the Pride of Drummully RBP accompanied by two bands, the Border Defenders and Wattlebridge Accordion band paraded to their buses to go to the main Fermanagh Black demonstration at Ballinamallard.
As they left, the protesters held their own parade through the main street carrying banners reading "Nationalists take back their town" and "No consent - no marches".
Residents also held a meeting in their parish hall where heated exchanges took place over the compromise deal but they agreed to oppose all future parades in the village.
On Friday night, the RBP rejected a compromise proposal from residents, that they could march from their hall in the centre of Newtownbutler outwards, the deal which was accepted on Saturday.
As preparations got under way for the evening protest in Newtownbutler there was a carnival atmosphere as the ranks of protesters swelled and a van played folk music from a stereo connected to a loudspeaker. The music was turned off as speaker after speaker addressed the nationalist residents.
Clones Sinn Fein councillor, Mr Pat Trainor, told the assembled crowd that residents had gained much from their opposition to the parades since negotiations with the marchers, even though they had not spoken to each other directly but through an RUC intermediary.
At the top of High Street, RUC officers blocked the road as, marchers approached.
Marchers did not parade up to police lines, dispersing before they came towards them. Among the parade observers were the Committee on the Administration of Justice and the Dublin based community human rights group, the Table campaign. It urged dialogue between marchers and residents over contentious parades.
Despite tension over the Black Preceptory Parade in Roslea, the march passed off peacefully on Saturday evening. Around 40 marchers from the Gordon and Nixon Memorial Temperance RBP, accompanied by a single band, reluctantly agreed with the RUC's decision to re route the parade away from the centre of the village.
The marchers and band paraded up to a 30 strong police line outside their hall at the bottom of Main Street where they played for nearly 10 minutes before leaving.
There had been fears of confrontation in Roslea after nationalists vowed to block the marchers' route if they were allowed through, but just 50 protesters turned up to watch proceedings following the police decision.
The decision was welcomed by the Roslea Against Sectarian Marches Group but the UUP councillor for the area, Mr Cecil Noble, an RBP member, has accused the RUC of giving into Sinn Fein/IRA".