The Taoiseach condemned today's violent scenes in Dublin city centre, saying those who "wantonly attack gardaí and property have no respect for their fellow citizens".
"There is absolutely no excuse for the disgraceful scenes in Dublin today. It is the essence of Irish democracy and republicanism that people are allowed express their views freely and in a peaceful manner," he said.
Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
Mr Ahern praised "the bravery of the gardaí in dealing with a very tense situation and sympathy for those who have been injured doing their duty".
Speaking after a short meeting with a unionist delegation led by Jeffrey Donaldson of the DUP and Ulster Unionist Party MLA Danny Kennedy, the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said: " I wish to condemn in the strongest possible terms acts of thuggery, brutality, cowardice and inhumanity which have been unleashed on the people of Dublin this afternoon at the hands of an organised mob who came to Dublin with the intention of deliberately creating mayhem in a peaceful and prosperous city.
"I want to commend An Garda Síochána for, yet again, standing in the breach against acts of thuggery and political terror. In particular I want to express my shock and anger that members of An Garda Síochána have been injured by people who were carrying and defiling our national flag.
Mr McDowell said the "cowardly actions of a small, wholly unrepresentative number of people will not deter the Government in our pursuit of peace, reconciliation and inclusive democratic politics in Northern Ireland"
The Minister said he had expressed his regret to the unionist delegation "that their right under the Constitution to assemble peacefully was denied them".
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said the actions the rioters were "entirely wrong and reprehensible".
"There is no justification for what happened this afternoon in Dublin. Sinn Féin had appealed to people to ignore this loyalist parade and not to be provoked by it. Our view was that it should not be opposed in any way and we made that clear.
"Regrettably a small, unrepresentative group, chose to ignore our appeal."
The Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte said the scenes had "brought shame on the capital city".
"Whatever one's opinion of the Orange Order, it was hoped that this legal parade would have passed off without incident. Instead, an unrepresentative minority resorted to thuggery by attacking the gardai and members of the media who were there to cover the parade," he said.
"I wholeheartedly condemn these attacks and hope that those responsible will be brought to justice. Given the publicity that surrounded the march, I am surprised that the gardai seemed ill-prepared to deal with the violence that erupted.
Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams
"The Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, must seek an immediate report from Garda authorities about their preparations for today's march and the level of protests they anticipated."
The vice president of Republican Sinn Féin, Des Dalton, said the scenes witnessed in Dublin "only serve to illustrate how out of touch the 26-County political establishment was with the depth of opposition to the routing of a loyalist march through Dublin".
"Indeed 26-County Justice Minister Michael McDowell's willingness to meet with the organisers of this march while at the same time refusing to meet with the relatives of those killed in the British-directed loyalist Dublin and Monaghan bombs or the relatives of the Stardust tragedy, only serves to further highlight the gulf that exists between the 26-County political establishment and the views of ordinary Irish people," he said.
Mr Dalton said the routing of such a march through Dublin was "a completely irresponsible act with scant thought given to the consequences or the dangers it posed to people".
The SDLP's justice spokesman Alban Maginness said it was "disturbing that marchers have been prevented from peaceful demonstration".
"This action of extreme republicans simply plays into hands of those of unionist right who cannot conceive unionist rights being upheld in a New Ireland."