A heavy security presence was being maintained in Portadown, Co Armagh, last night despite an easing of tension in the aftermath of Drumcree Sunday.
The nationalist Garvaghy Road area continued to have the appearance of a war zone, with entrance points manned by RUC and British army personnel to keep out intruders.
Residents of the area, however, including Mr Breandan MacCionnaith, spokesman for the Garvaghy Road Residents' Coalition, said the atmosphere was more relaxed than it had been following Orange parades in recent years.
A small number of protesters maintained a vigil on Drumcree hill overlooking the barrier built to prevent the Orange Order from marching back to the town centre via the Garvaghy Road on Sunday.
An RUC spokesman in Portadown said there had been no incidents of note. "There were a few stones thrown during the night, but otherwise there's been nothing," he said.
Nothing was being left to chance, however. A typical 10minute journey in Portadown yesterday involved encountering at least two RUC-British army checkpoints.
Drivers leaving Drumcree hill late on Sunday and early yesterday were stopped and had their cars searched.
The RUC Chief Constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, welcomed the relative state of calm at Drumcree, which he attributed to a variety of factors, "not least among which is the very responsible attitude taken by the Orange Order".
The security situation in the North, he said, was much better than it had been in previous years following the Drumcree march.
"We have some potentially difficult situations yet to face, but I am confident that with the display of good sense we have seen up to this point, we can get through the potential difficulties," Sir Ronnie said.
"We have had a very busy night. We have had a number of arrests for a whole variety of public-order offences.
"It's important that people of influence in communities that might seek in a misguided way, to support what's going on at Drumcree, understand that that's not what the Orange Order wants, or what the Orange Order has called for. Quite the contrary."