STREETS ERUPT
BELFAST: Northern Ireland police yesterday faced another night of being bombarded with petrol bombs and rocks as violence again flared despite pleas for calm.
Riot police on the republican side of the divided city were pelted with projectiles as they tried to prevent a crowd moving towards pro-British unionists.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Irish counterpart Micheal Martin had earlier called for “calm” following days of violence that included a petrol-bomb attack on a moving bus.
Martin and Johnson held telephone talks in which they stressed “violence is unacceptable” and called for calm, the Irish leader’s office said.
But their calls went unheeded as night fell in Belfast.
Rioting over the past few days — the city’s worst unrest in recent years — had mainly stemmed from its unionist community, leading to joint condemnation from political leaders in the province.
Unionists are angry over apparent economic dislocation due to Brexit and existing tensions with pro-Irish nationalist communities.
“Destruction, violence and the threat of violence are completely unacceptable and unjustifiable, no matter what concerns may exist in communities,” said the Northern Ireland executive, made up of unionist, nationalist and centrist parties. While our political positions are very different on many issues, we are all united in our support for law and order.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis visited Belfast to meet leaders from the main parties, including unionist First Minister Arlene Foster and deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill of Sinn Fein, as well as faith and community advocates.
He called the joint condemnation “a very clear statement”, adding “there is no excuse for violence; we’ve got to make sure we take things forward in a proper democratic and political way.”
Earlier this week, gates were set alight on a “peace line” — walls separating pro-Irish nationalist and unionist communities — and police said crowds from either side broke through to attack each other with petrol bombs, missiles and fireworks.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) temporary assistant chief constable Jonathan Roberts said the violence was unprecedented in recent years.
“The fact that it was sectarian violence and there was large groups on both sides … again is not something we have seen for a number of years,” he told reporters.
Six nights of unrest had left 55 police injured, Roberts noted, as well as a photographer and the driver of the bus firebombed on Wednesday.
He said children as young as 13 were suspected of involvement with the encouragement of adults, and the number of petrol bombs used suggested “a level of pre-planning”.
The PSNI is probing if Northern Ireland’s notorious paramilitary groups were involved in the unrest.
Unionist paramilitaries, British security forces and armed nationalists seeking to unite the territory with the Republic of Ireland waged battle until a landmark peace deal in 1998 that let unionists and nationalists coexist by blurring the status of the region.