Politicians and church leaders have expressed great satisfaction with the agreement struck over Saturday's Apprentice Boys parade in Derry, although some loyalists have criticised a Parades Commission ruling re-routing contentious "feeder" marches.
In welcoming the accommodation reached between the Apprentice Boys and the Bogside Residents' Group (BRG), senior churchmen and politicians also hoped the understanding would serve as a model for solving other contentious parades including that at Drumcree. However, in contrast to the widespread expressions of relief that Saturday's main parade in Derry should pass off relatively peacefully, loyalists criticised a Parades Commission decision imposing restrictions on "feeder" parades to the Derry march in Dunloy, Bellaghy, and the nationalist Lower Ormeau Road in Belfast.
A spokesman for the Ballynafeigh Apprentice Boys, who are barred from parading down the Lower Ormeau, said the decision was deplorable. Mr Tommy Cheevers, a Belfast member of the Apprentice Boys who resigned from the Parades Commission because he believed it had an anti-loyalist bias, said loyalists were very angry with the commission.
The Apprentice Boys, unlike the Orange Order, had co-operated with the commission and their small feeder parades should have been allowed, he said.
Elsewhere reaction to the Derry deal was generally positive. The Northern Secretary, Dr Mo Mowlam, said the accommodation in Derry had proved both communities could benefit from negotiation, notwithstanding that it had been indirect. She believed it could serve as an example of how other contentious parades could be resolved.
"Talking has won out and progress is being made. I think it is important to learn from that elsewhere in Northern Ireland," she said.
"We in government have always believed that it is essential for all those involved in the parades issue to strive for local accommodation, and only fall back on the good work of the Parades Commission when local accommodation has failed," said Dr Mowlam.
The Catholic Bishop of Derry, Dr Seamus Hegarty, said people should take encouragement from the Derry agreement. With goodwill and the proper negotiating machinery, agreement could be reached on contentious parades.
It was now important that the relationships between nationalists and loyalists and the Protestant sense of alienation in Derry be addressed, he told BBC Radio Foyle. "We must be encouraged by what has been achieved."
The Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry, Dr James Mehaffey, said both sides in the Derry dispute had shown tremendous courage. He said things were changing in Northern Ireland. "I think the way forward is by negotiation."
The Rev David Kerr, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, urged everyone travelling to Derry on Saturday to behave in a responsible manner and to remember that they were visitors to the city. "I hope that this breakthrough will serve as a model for the future in all areas where there are contentious parades".
Mr Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein MP for Mid-Ulster, praised the BRG for reaching a voluntary accommodation with the Apprentice Boys, and hoped it would persuade other loyal orders to enter into negotiation with nationalist residents' groups.
Mr Joel Patton, head of the Spirit of Drumcree group, told the Irish News the Apprentice Boys had agreed to terms that would curtail the parade in Derry. He said the Derry understanding "won't make the Portadown situation any easier".
