Two hundred and fifty British soldiers returning from active service in Afghanistan were the subject of an intense political squabble in Belfast on Sunday.

Billed the Armed Forces Thanksgiving Parade, the widely protested army march passed through a corridor of tightly policed Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods without serious incident.

For the parade's organizers, claimed the Nationalist Irish News, the point of the march was to demonstrate that - to borrow Margaret Thatcher's often lampooned phrase - Ulster is still as British as Finchley.

However, the consensus of the Nationalist newspapers on Sunday was that the provocative parade merely raised sectarian tensions and highlighted how the whole notion of a shared future gets more and more remote, as the ridiculous nature of Northern Ireland's governance was exposed.

Earlier on Sunday morning Loyalists threw fireworks and bottles at a Sinn Fein protest, before singing "Rule Britannia" as the British soldiers passed them by on their route to Belfast City Hall, where they were greeted by tens of thousands of poppy-wearing citizens.

The PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) mounted a huge security operation to separate Sinn Fein protesters from the hundreds of loyalists who had gathered near the city center.

Meanwhile, a Republican counter protest in West Belfast, which attracted over 1,000 participants, was also closely policed. Police estimate a crowd of around 20,000 people turned to cheer the 250 British army personnel, led by two Irish Wolfhounds, two soldiers and an army band.

Parades Commission chairman Roger Poole said that he was relived that the parade had passed without incident and commended Sinn Fein for helping to ensure that it had done so.

Poole added, "The Parades Commission worked to ensure that the rights of all involved to parade and to protest were respected and steps taken last week by both organizers ensured that tension was lowered. It shows that the rights and aspirations of all communities can co-exist in a trouble-free environment in Northern Ireland."

The police operation surrounding the parade was one of the largest seen in recent times in Northern Ireland. Reports stated that the overwhelming police presence and the drone of overhead police helicopters - which had not been seen often in recent times in Belfast - gave the event a sense of menace that reminded wary observers of pre-ceasefire Belfast.

"Scum, scum, scum," Loyalists protestors were heard to chant, as they pointed two fingers towards west Belfast from where the Republican protesters were also marching at their protest march.

Local news reports confirmed that when the parade ended the rival crowds dispersed almost immediately, as the 250 British soldiers stepped off toward an official - and private - reception at the Waterfront Hall in the city center.

No casulties were reported and calm was quickly restored.