North Belfast remains on tenterhooks this week after rioting broke out in the wake of the contentious Tour of the North Orange march, the first major parade of the marching season.
The trouble started after the disputed return leg of the Tour of the North parade passed up the Crumlin Road through a flashpoint nationalist area at Ardoyne.
Speaking in the wake of the parade SDLP MLA for North Belfast, Alban McMaginness, said, "There have been very ugly and nasty scenes here tonight and it augurs badly for the rest of the marching season."
Missiles were thrown as bandsmen from three Orange lodges passed the junction between Twaddell Avenue and the Crumlin Road, but the worst violence followed when the PSNI allowed loyalist supporters of the parade to pass through the nationalist area.
There were also reports of loyalist attacks on nationalist homes in the Carrick Hill area which is close to the Shankill Road.
Dozens of police Land Rovers lined the length of the Crumlin Road with nationalist residents hemmed in on the Ardoyn side and loyalist residents on the Twaddell Avenue side.
In a massive PSNI operation with squadrons of armoured Land Rovers deployed, the big question was whether the parade supporters would be permitted to walk past the nationalist Ardoyne shops.
After the three Orange Lodges passed the police vehicles moved from one side to the opposite hemming in nationalist residents fronting the Mountainview area.
The parade supporters, including women and children, were protected by PSNI vehicles. However, nationalists vented their anger and a hail of missiles rained down as the Orange supporters were escorted through the area.
Nationalist residents last night (Sunday) claimed they were attacked in their homes and one 40-year-old woman said the police turned their batons on her and other residents.
Water cannons were deployed at one stage and while senior republicans tried to keep youths from rioting, the police escort of the loyalist support brought nationalist anger to the boil.
Sinn Féin MLA for North Belfast, Gerry Kelly, said, "What I saw was the police beating the residents.
"As well as that we saw Orange supporters and marshalls that are well known beat residents. This is a crazy decision by the Parades Commission."
One resident claimed his family was threatened by a well-known leading member of the loyal orders.
Fr Aidan Troy, Rector of Holy Cross parish, said he was heartbroken by the night's events and he said that a new generation were learning to riot after the Good Friday Agreement and that Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern needed to stand up and act on Orange marches through nationalist areas.
"My overwhelming feeling is sadness that this is allowed to happen again and again," he said.
The march was the first to be affected by an extension of the law governing the behaviour of parade supporters.
It gave police wider powers to control the movement and behaviour of parade followers at flashpoint areas.
The Tour of the North is one of the first contentious parades of the summer-long marching season.
A ruling by the Parades Commission restricts nationalist protesters to the footpath outside the Ardoyne shops and loyalist supporters also face restrictions following serious rioting at a parade in the area last July.
