AS British and Irish politicians attempted to rescue the peace process yesterday, several right wing British newspaper editorials argued that the Taoiseach and the nationalists were solely to blame for the "bleakest" week in Northern Ireland.
Under the headline "John Bruton's betrayal of trust", the Daily Affairs editorial accused the Taoiseach of interfering in British affairs and of giving Sinn Fein the perfect "propaganda gift" by criticising the British government's role in allowing the Orangemen to march in Portadown.
"The Irish Prime Minister, Mr John Bruton, with despicable alacrity heaped blame on the British government. His gratuitously crass intervention was about as statesmanlike as dousing the flames with petrol", the paper argued.
In a strongly worded editorial, the paper also attacked Cardinal Cabal Daly for his anger at the British government over the march.
"What a propaganda gilt for Sinn Fein must be this orgy of anti British scapegoating indulged in by the leaders of both Irish state and Catholic church", the paper claimed.
After pointing out that the IRA should be blamed for Northern Ireland's "return to bloody anarchy" with the resumption of its bombing campaign in Britain, the editorial concludes with yet another attack on Mr Bruton.
"John Bruton's attempt to blur the blame by putting the British government in the dock is worse that a perversion of the truth.
"Perpetrated by a presumed ally, it is a self serving betrayal of trust in John Major, who has disinterestedly staked so much on the now cruelly sabotaged bid to secure a lasting peace for all the inhabitants of Northern Ireland", the paper said.
The London Times's editorial accuses the nationalist community of being bigoted in failing to understand the Orangemen's rights to express "their pride in their British citizenship".
Insisting that Northern Ireland's "harsh realities can no longer be ignored" the editorial called for the Union to be strengthened. "When there was no real ambiguity over the Province's future there was also no effective republican terrorist campaign.
Only the Guardian's editorial criticised the loyalist community for its "wantonly planned show of strength", which had left the peace process in ruins: "If the Protestants' contribution (to the peace process) is to refuse to divert the course of a historic march by a few hundred yards then how on earth can they compromise on much bigger constitutional issues?"