All just want to move on

DissidentDi republicans also used the nightly gathering of police in the area to target officers. In one incident a rocket-propelled grenade launcher was fired at a PSNI Land Rover close to the camp. Another patrol vehicle came under automatic gunfire from dissidents and a crude bomb was thrown at a PSNI vehicle as it drove along the Crumlin Road.

However, there was little sign of tension yesterday as a group of children happily played football at the front of the Ardoyne shop fronts — the scene of sectarian rioting in the past.

A young Catholic woman out for a Sunday evening jog said she was relieved that a resolution to the dispute had been reached.

Nodding towards the camp across the road she said: “It shouldn’t have been allowed to go on this long. I was fed up looking at that protest. I’m not bothered about the march on Saturday morning. I’ll be in my bed and won’t hear a thing. Anyone who doesn’t want them to walk should just stay in their beds until its over. It’ll be over in five minutes.”

News of the breakthrough in the dispute was warmly welcomed by politicians and police.

First Minister and DUP leader Arlene Foster said the agreement was “a welcome development” and “a significant step”.

While there has been a lot of will among both communities to resolve this parading issue there is still some way to go to eradicate the inbred mistrust and the “them and us” mentality.

“I don’t see why them ones have a problem. It’s a public road and it (the parade) would be past them in a couple of minutes. We wouldn’t have had all this trouble if the parade hadn’t been stopped in the first place,” said a Twaddell resident.

“Those ones are getting what they want. I’ll be glad when it’s over. But I don’t trust them,” an Ardoyne resident said.