Apprentice Boys' annual Relief of Derry Parade takes place

The Relief of Derry parade returned in full, with thousands attending the event

The Apprentice Boys' annual Relief of Derry parade returned in full on Saturday for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year the parade was limited to a few hundred participants.

This year, thousands of people made their way into Londonderry's city centre for the parade, More than 135 bands took part in proceedings.

The events mark the anniversary of the ending of the Siege of Derry in August 1689.

In the day's first parade Apprentice Boys, along with nine bands, made their way along the city's historic walls.

Dozens of bands took part in the parade

After a wreath-laying ceremony at the War Memorial in the Diamond, a church service was held at St Columb's Cathedral.

The main events of the day were a Relief of Derry pageant before the main parade around the city, starting at the Craigavon Bridge.

A cannon on Derry's Walls was fired four times at midnight on Friday to signal the start of this weekend's proceedings.

What is the Relief of Derry parade?

The siege of Derry in 1689 took place against the background of the deposed Catholic King James II's attempt to regain his crown from his Protestant son-in-law, King William III.

Also known as William of Orange, or King Billy, the new monarch was supported by Protestants in Derry.

A re-enactment of the events of 1689 was staged

At the start of the siege, 13 apprentice boys slammed the city gates against King James' advancing Jacobite army.

The Apprentice Boys of Derry are based upon that defiant action of "no surrender" and hold their main parade in August to celebrate the relief of the city and the ending of the siege.

Graeme Stenhouse, the governor of the Apprentice Boys, said it was "very important to get people back together again" for the event this year.

"One thing that we've missed over the last few years is the fraternity, the friendships and you can see the joy that it's bringing the Maiden City today."

He said the week-long Maiden City Festival, which preceded Saturday's parade, was "one of the best we've ever had".

Apprentice Boys parade under blue skies on Saturday morning

"It showcased our culture and our history, huge numbers taking part, huge numbers supporting us and I think it shows that we still have so much to offer the city of Londonderry."

He added: "A lot of hard work has went in over the last 30 years to give us the parades that we have now, to reach out to the other side and say: "This is who we are."

"We want to be recognised and respected in this city and we respect that we are living in a predominantly nationalist city, and that's why we always put the message out to our membership to conduct themselves in the proper manner."

A wreath was laid at the War Memorial in the Diamond

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the event had been "largely peaceful and safe".

Ch Supt Ryan Henderson, PSNI area commander for Derry City and Strabane, said they had been involved in "months of planning" with the organisers as they were expecting a large number of people to take part and to turn out to see the marchers.

'Largely peaceful and safe'

"We expected it to be a very busy day today because it's the first of these events and parades post-Covid, the sun's obviously shining so, as we expected, there's been significant numbers of people in the city," he said.

On Saturday evening, the PSNI said that officers had "seized a number of items" from a stall in the Glendermott Road area of the city.

It followed an earlier report that flags, including a Parachute Regiment flag, and other items were being sold from a stall in that location during Saturday's event.

Thirteen people were shot dead in Derry in 1972 when members of the Army's Parachute Regiment opened fire on civil rights demonstrators, on a day which became known as Bloody Sunday.

Earlier on Saturday, the area commander said the PSNI was aware of social media posts which had raised concerns about items allegedly being sold from a stall.

The officer added: "I just want to reassure people that we're looking into that to try to understand what is being sold if it is being sold, if there are any criminal offences being committed. We can reassure people that if there are, we'll do something about that.

"We understand the sensitivities absolutely around flags and images here in the city."