The parade passed off peacefully despite a Sinn Fein-led protest.

Young and old, many waving Union flags, cheered and clapped as over 250 members of the armed forces made their way through the city centre.

Those on parade included local members of the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army including Irish Guards, Royal Dragoon Guards, Royal Irish Regiment, 204 Field Hospital and 152 Transport Regiment.

The military personnel were led along the route by the Royal Irish Regiment band and two Irish wolfhounds.

A salute was taken at the front of the City Hall before a civic reception at the Waterfront Hall and later a church service in St Anne's Cathedral.

In one of the biggest security operations ever mounted in Belfast, political representatives on all sides had appealed for the parade to pass off without any trouble.

An RAF flypast was cancelled as part of moves to ease tensions.

Security was especially tight at Great Victoria Street where loyalists on one side and Sinn Fein supporters who marched from Dunville Park, off the Falls Road, came to within 50 yards of each other close to the junction with Grosvenor Road.

Before the parade started insults were shouted and a number of bottles and fireworks thrown towards the republicans.

About 200 dissident republicans, among them Brendan McKenna and Colin Duffy from Craigavon, Co Armagh were held back by police near the West Link, and well away from the city centre.

This demonstration also passed off without incident.

Loyalist paramilitaries, among them Jackie McDonald, a leader of the Ulster Defence Association, were also on the streets, and outside City Hall Peter Robinson, First Minister at the Northern Ireland Assembly was applauded as he walked to take his place on the VIP platform.