This Twelfth saw calls for unity against the Belfast accord, writes Dan Keenan, Northern News Editor.
Opponents of Mr David Trimble used Twelfth demonstrations on Saturday to criticise his leadership and policies in what was one of the most peaceful, yet intensely political, Orange Order commemorations of the Battle of the Boyne.
Mr Jeffrey Donaldson and the Rev Martin Smyth, addressing Orange demonstrations in Hillsborough and Crossgar, Co Down, fired broadsides at the leadership of the party and made undisguised appeals for unity among those opposed to the Belfast Agreement and the Joint Declaration.
The British and Irish governments published their declaration and a series of annexes on May 1st in the hope that it would kick-start the stalled political process in Northern Ireland and pave the way to restoration of the suspended Stormont institutions following so-called "acts of completion" by the paramilitaries.
There is opposition to the declaration and annexes within unionism over its plans to scale back the British military presence, to allow "on the run" paramilitary fugitives to return to Northern Ireland, to establish a monitoring body which would have a member from the Republic, and to restore the Assembly and Executive.
Mr Donaldson, Mr Trimble's most vociferous critic and de facto leader of the dissident group within the UUP, accused Mr Trimble of splitting the party down the middle and of embarking on a "vendetta against those who oppose his high-risk policy". He called on those within the UUP who held similar concerns "to act now before it is too late". In a call to build wider unionist unity, not just within the UUP but among other unionist parties, Mr Donaldson said: "It is time for Ulster unionism to respond to the cry from ordinary unionists for greater unity and stronger policies.
"Only when we achieve this can we hope to address and resolve the wider political issues and reach agreement with others - including nationalists - and end paramilitarism and political instability."
Mr Smyth also denounced his party's leadership and Mr Trimble's policy of acting against the dissidents within the party.
"Those who criticise the Belfast Agreement have been demonised more than the terrorists - all for holding a legitimate and democratic point of view," he said.
"We do not just speak for ourselves," he added.
"We represent the views of hundreds of thousands of ordinary and disaffected unionists. Are all these people to be similarly labelled?"
He asked if the British government would continue to implement a political arrangement if it were opposed by Sinn Féin and a substantial section of the SDLP.
He criticised the British Prime Minister for doing just that in relation to growing unionist disillusionment with the Belfast Agreement. Mr Smyth also criticised the British and Irish governments for implementing some aspects of their Joint Declaration which they claim are not dependent on what Mr Tony Blair calls "acts of completion" by the paramilitaries.
Mr Smyth forecast that moves to broaden unionist unity around a focal point of opposition to the agreement would gather momentum after the summer.
The other unionist MP who resigned the Westminster whip, Mr David Burnside, marched with the largest gathering in Co Antrim at Glengormley on the outskirts of north Belfast.
There was no sign yesterday of the UUP leader, Mr David Trimble. He has kept a low profile since the conclusion of a meeting of his party's officers in Belfast on Friday at which disciplinary moves against the three dissident MPs were restarted. On Tuesday Mr Trimble won a vote of no-confidence at his constituency association in Upper Bann, although more than 37 per cent of his local party members did not support him.
Elsewhere, more than 60,000 Orangemen and many thousands of visitors from around the world held marches at eight principal demonstrations and a further 10 rallies across Northern Ireland.
Motions were passed denouncing the Belfast Agreement.
"We believe the agreement, being unable to remove the threat of violence by some who are signatories to it, cannot give us the fair and just government we need and want," the motions read.
"Until there is proof that the IRA is gone and its terrorist activities have ceased there should be no place for Sinn Féin in the government of Northern Ireland.
"We have been given ample reason to doubt the sincerity and honesty of the government of the United Kingdom working in tandem with foreign governments and we have deep concerns about their proposals for our future."
There were also ritual denunciations of the Catholic Church and the Irish Government.
However, it was the most peaceful Twelfth in years, with a few low-key incidents surrounding so-called feeder parades en route to the main demonstrations.
The emergency services were called out to more than 300 incidents at 11th night bonfires, prompting calls for more stringent monitoring of bonfires next summer.