04/09/2012

Second Night Of Rioting In North Belfast

Seven police officers have been hospitalised in a second night of rioting in north Belfast.

The violence in the Carlisle Circus area saw a van hijacked and pushed into police lines, as well as petrol bombs and bricks being shown at police.

More than 60 officers were injured - one was knocked unconscious and another suffered a broken arm.

The PSNI used water cannon and fired baton rounds in an attempt to placate the rioters.

Trouble first broke out in Denmark Street and the Antrim Road on Sunday night after loyalists protested against a republican band parade.

But tensions have been high all summer over parades, with riots breaking out after Orange Order parades through Ardoyne on July 12, and a loyalist flute band banned from playing outside a Catholic church in north Belfast, after supporters were filmed singing a sectarian song.

Assistant Chief Constable Will Kerr has called on politicians to sort out the parades issue, warning that somebody could be killed if the problems drag on.

In the run-up to a planned loyalist Ulster Covenant parade on September 29, he said: "Northern Ireland cannot afford an eleventh hour solution. The community of north Belfast needs to see a resolution to this issue now. Collectively, we cannot afford to wait and we cannot have night after night of violence on our streets."

(NE)

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