Protestant marching season off to violent start

A 1998 peace accord ended most of the violence between Catholic republican and pro-British Protestant groups, which had plagued Northern Ireland for three decades, killing at least 3,500 people.

Devolved self-rule is now in place in the province after a landmark accord in 2007 between the Protestant Democratic Unionists (DUP) and Catholic Sinn Fein.

Despite the peace accord, two British soldiers and a police officer were shot dead within 48 hours of each other in March, killings blamed on dissident republican paramilitaries.

They were the first such killings in roughly a decade and raised fears of a return to civil unrest.

However political parties from all sides in Northern Ireland have spoken out against the shootings, while thousands of people joined peace rallies across the province showing solidarity against the attacks.

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Nster.com