Northern Ireland centenary paradea was a magnificent celebration, enjoyed by 100,000 people

The parade on Saturday in Belfast was one of the most important in the long history of Northern Ireland.

A century after the creation of this country, which its critics said would never survive, around 100,000 people took to the streets to celebrate NI’s 100th birthday.

A further 25,000 people took part in the march itself, which had spectators for almost all of its 4.5 mile distance from Stormont into Belfast city centre.

The event was all the more notable, given that Northern Ireland’s centenary was barely marked last year.

This was in part due to Covid but it was also due to government reticence about fully celebrating the occasion and a distinct lack of keenness about doing so in many other spheres of official society.

Some media coverage of Saturday’s huge procession was surprisingly modest too.

Whatever.

The people who live here knew that it was a fine spectacle, and we are very pleased in the News Letter — which has been publishing for almost 300 years – to print today a picture pullout supplement of the day.

The weather was good and so was the atmosphere.

The music was magnificent, as it always is in loyal order parades.

There was no trouble, as the police pointed out, which is all the more remarkable given the huge numbers of people involved.

Northern Ireland’s obituary is often written, and there is no shortage of influential people trying to will along that outcome.

But surveys show that vast numbers of people who don’t think of themselves as unionist nonetheless consider themselves Northern Irish, and support the UK.

Here is to the next 100 years!