11.   It also precedes the annual marching season, which peaks in July, when contentious parades polarize the two communities in Northern Ireland.

12.   It was inevitable that the marching season would produce flashpoints.

13.   Most loyalist paramilitaries went out of their way to prevent violence the last two weeks, which marked the climax to the annual marching season.

14.   Next month, meanwhile, the annual marching season peaks, as Protestant groups demand to march through Catholic neighborhoods where they are not wanted.

15.   Similar increases were made in recent years before the so-called marching season.

16.   That is only likely to happen if the marching season passes without further Protestant provocations.

17.   The basic problem with marching season is that it has no real rules or parameters.

18.   The clientele was changing, too, but the band in the resplendent ballroom played on, through the marching season and beyond.

19.   The IRA, however, sources close to its leadership say, wanted to see how the new government handled its first marching season in Northern Ireland.

20.   The marching season is about to begin in earnest, with all its reminders of sectarian victories and historical pain.