Troubled Weekend In NI

It has been a troubled few days with reports of disturbances in the Castlereagh area of east Belfast last night, and two serious arson attacks in different areas of Northern Ireland earlier in what has turned out to have been a violent weekend.

Last night, paint was thrown at a house at Clonduff Drive, just off the Castlereagh Road, after a large crowd gathered just after 8pm. It is understood windows were also smashed.

One man was taken to hospital, although he may not have been injured during the incident.

Police said last night they would continue to monitor the situation, although the area was reported to be calm after 9pm.

In other violence, separate arson alerts over the weekend have left two cars extensively damaged by fire in one incident and a toy shop suffering minor fire damage in the second blaze alert.

In what police believe was a racist attack in an otherwise quiet County Antrim village, arsonists first targeted a vehicle belonging to a Bulgarian.

It was set alight soon after midnight at Beach Road in Portballintrae near Bushmills, early on Sunday morning. A police spokesperson said another car parked nearby caught fire.

It was also revealed that apartments close to the burning vehicle have suffered smoke damage.

The SDLP East Derry MLA John Dallat said he believed racist attacks could ruin the reputation of Portballintrae as a peaceful place to live.

He said: "Foreign nationals make a massive contribution not only to the hotel and hospitality industry, but in other key areas such as engineering.

"Without them our economy would be seriously damaged."

Meanwhile, the full details of a fire bomb attack on Friday have now emerged.

The device - which partially detonated at a toy store in County Tyrone - was dealt with by Army technical officers found the device in Cookstown.

It followed a phone call to a media organisation on Friday evening that incendiary devices had been left at two businesses in Cookstown.

The device was found hidden within a fast food container in the Toymaster store on the Dungannon Road.

The shop was evacuated before the device set fire to some surrounding stock and burnt itself out.

In addition, a supermarket in the town was also evacuated, and a number of other premises were searched.

A PSNI spokesman said: "Investigations into the exact nature of the object are continuing.

"Police in Cookstown would urge members of the public to be vigilant."

"If they come across any suspicious packages, or any boxes or packages with a suspicious object inside, to contact them immediately," the spokesman related.

In an associated development the security forces also carried out a search of Tesco in Cookstown, but nothing was found.

In unrelated incidents, fire crews were attacked at five locations across Northern Ireland during the weekend.

There was stone throwing at Galliagh in Londonderry and fire fighters were also targeted on the Woodstock Road in east Belfast.

There were further attacks in the Falls Road area of west Belfast, Dixon Park playing fields in east Belfast, and Bawnmore in Newtownabbey.

There were no injuries and no damage to vehicles, the fire service said.

(BMcC)