Belfast Riots Deflect From US Open Win

As Northern Ireland stepped up onto the world stage following Co Down golfer Rory McIlroy's stunning victory in the US Open on Sunday, with international accolades flowing, the overnight news was instead grim.

The world has been presented with another face of NI, with a bomb being thrown at a police car in the Andersonstown Road area of west Belfast during an early morning security alert and there was sustained rioting in east Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Policing Board Chair Brian Rea condemned the violence and rioting in the Short Strand area of Belfast last night, where the police were heavily outnumbered and virtually unable to act, given the numbers of rioters involved.

He said: "The reports of last night's events are both shocking and terrifying.

"There is no room in our community for this type of behaviour and it is particularly sad that on a day when Northern Ireland was celebrating a very positive event, [Rory McIlroy's US Open victory] there are those who set out with the clear intention of wreaking havoc in the Short Strand area," he said.

West Belfast Bomb

He has also condemned last night's bomb attack on the police and said: "It is extremely fortunate that officers were not injured in this attack but this device had the potential to kill which was the obvious intent.

"These officers were out serving the community and we ask the community to give all the support they can to policing at this time," he said.

The officers were responding to reports of a suspicious vehicle in the early hours of Tuesday morning when the explosive device was thrown.

Army bomb experts then carried out a number of controlled explosions in the area but nothing untoward was found and the security alert is now over and the area around the Kennedy Centre has reopened.

The east Belfast trouble saw several people treated in hospital after shots were fired and dozens of petrol bombs thrown during overnight rioting in the Short Strand interface area on Monday night.

Local Presbyterian minister the Reverend Mervyn Gibson revealed that two young men were shot in the legs following two bursts of gunfire in the Newtownards road area, which was later confirmed by a senior PSNI officer, during a BBC Radio Ulster interview.

Belfast Unionist councillor Michael Copeland also commented and said: "I believe the shots came from the St Matthew's [chapel] side and the crowd in the grounds of the chapel cheered very loudly afterwards so I concluded the two occurrences were linked.

"The two communities share difficulties in social disadvantage and in many ways are very alike but there's a great dislike and distrust.

"There were a substantial number involved either directly or in the fringes that I would not normally have expected to see anywhere near this."

The police said that CCTV footage is now being studied as part of their investigation and said that missiles including bricks, fireworks and smoke bombs were also thrown and several homes attacked with paint bombs and stones, while police fired a number of baton rounds.

The PSNI said a police officer was injured after laser pens were used to blind officers during the trouble.

District Commander Chief Superintendent Alan McCrum said between 400 to 500 people were involved in the disorder.

Officers are also investigating reports of an attempted hijacking of a bus and incidents of criminal damage to streetlights in the area.

The lower Newtownards Road has since reopened and a clear-up operation is underway.

Lord Mayor

Fresh from last weekend's successful, cross-cultural Lord Mayor's Show in central Belfast, the Mayor Niall Ó Donnghaile said a number of nationalist residents had been injured, and one man had been knocked unconscious when he was hit on the head with a brick.

Mr Ó Donnghaile said: "There is no doubt that this was unprovoked and was a carefully orchestrated and planned attack on the area.

"Homes have been attacked with petrol bombs and paint bombs, bricks, golf balls. I saw what happened."

He claimed loyalist attacks had initially sparked violence from the republican side of the divide.

Sinn Fein MLA Alex Maskey was also on the ground during the disturbances and he told BBC NI that members of the loyalist paramilitary group, the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) took part in the attack on the Short Strand.

There were also claims that about 100 men in dark clothing, and equipped with surgical gloves to deter forensic investigation, were at the heart of the attacks.

Speaking this afternoon, the Stormont First Minister, Peter D. Robinson and the Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness condemned both last night's rioting in east Belfast and the bomb attack on a police vehicle in west Belfast.

The Ministers said that the violent rioting was entirely unacceptable and that they would meet with the PSNI Chief Constable and the Stomront Minister for Justice to discuss the problems.

Mr Robinson said: "At this time when many are working hard to build a better and brighter future for all in Northern Ireland it is disappointing and deeply concerning to see this level of violence return to our streets.

"We have given clear commitments to continue to deliver progress for all within the community including in those areas most at need. This type of behaviour damages the local economy and unfairly mars the reputation of the community. The international profile of Northern Ireland has never been higher than it is now rioting like this does our reputation real damage," said the DUP Leader.

Mr McGuinness said: "In recent years we have made tremendous progress in dealing with interface violence and I am determined that this progress will not be undone by these acts of violence and recent rioting in east Belfast.

"A small minority of individuals are clearly determined to destabilise our communities. They will not be allowed to drag us back to the past," the Sinn Fein Minister insisted.

See: Belfast On Show

See: Holywood Golfer Is Top Of The World

(BMcC)