And so the Twelfth is over for another year. As the streets of South Belfast return to normal, we can count ourselves lucky that the images beamed to our TV screens from Ardoyne were not repeated here.
Whilst – thankfully – violence did not feature large in the South of the city over the holiday period, that isn't to say that many weren't still made to feel decidedly uncomfortable.
This is a perception that is hardened by the Orange Order's apparent unwillingness to compromise or negotiate for the sake of keeping the peace, in spite of residents' best efforts. But all people of goodwill must realise that to refuse to talk is the road to disaster and the sooner the Orange Order crosses that particular rubicon the better for us all.
And then we come to the eleventh night bonfire celebrations and the much-heralded council sponsored bonfire pilot scheme.
The idea behind this was to try to curb and control the illegal and environmentally damaging excesses of previous year's bonfires, excesses which had seen thousands of pounds spent on clearing up areas and mindless attacks on council clean-up staff.
In theory it made sense to try and contain what had become little more than a sectarian booze up, albeit one which lays claim to a certain cultural relevance. To some, though, the £2,500 handout given to each site was a concession too far.
As South Belfast councillor Carmel Hanna put it: "It just seems like we are rewarding bad behaviour."
It is easy to be hard on those making the effort to turn the bonfire problem around, but they face difficulties from within their own communities that their critics either underestimate or know nothing about and their efforts should be applauded in the hope that next year will see more steps forward, even if they are only baby steps. Their task of balancing the need for an environmentally friendly and non-sectarian eleventh night event with the demands of the disparate elements within the community is a thankless one.
But it was the shameful display of paramilitary force at the Pitt Park pilot site that really let the side down.
As one of the council's favoured bonfires, organisers clearly either chose to ignore the council's guidelines or were incapable of putting them into action.
It is too soon for Belfast Council to say whether they will continue with the bonfire scheme next year.
But when they get round to tallying up the final cost – both socially and financially – a decision will have to be taken in the round. If we give up on this imaginative and forward-looking schemes because of predictable setbacks at the outset, we would be handing a victory to those who would drag us into the past.
