Skirmishes erupt at the peace wall dividing Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Wednesday night. (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)
The government of Northern Ireland is holding an emergency meeting on Thursday following days of unrest reminiscent of The Troubles that plagued the region for decades.
The latest violence in Belfast has erupted amid anger from Protestant unionists concerned they re being isolated from the United Kingdom and pushed into a union with the republic of Ireland due to post-Brexit trade rules.
For about a week now, young people in the city have torched vehicles and hurled bricks, fireworks and Molotov cocktails at police officers. In the past few days, youths have started throwing them over a concrete barrier, known as the peace wall, that separates a Protestant neighborhood from a Catholic area.
Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Northern Ireland’s First Minister has defended her call for the police chief to resign after a decision not to prosecute Sinn Fein politicians over attending a large funeral last year despite Covid restrictions.
Arlene Foster also deflected criticism for not meeting with Chief Constable Simon Byrne when she met with representatives of loyalist paramilitaries just weeks ago.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland recommended prosecutions against deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill and 23 others for alleged breaches of the regulations last year at the funeral of republican Bobby Storey, but the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) announced last week it will not pursue prosecutions.
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There have been 21 incidents of disorder across Northern Ireland in recent days.The figure was revealed in a policing board meeting hosted by Chief Constable Simon Byrne, outlining various incidents in the last eight days.UTV understands that members were told that there wasn t just one single cause for the trouble, and that paramilitaries were suspected of involvement in some of it.However, violent scenes over recent nights have also been blamed on Brexit and a local response in the South East Antrim area by what police term “criminal elements” against recent drug raids.
The PSNI on Northland in Carrickfergus near Belfast following sporadic outbursts of disorder Credit: Liam McBurney/PA
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image captionGates at Lanark Way were shut by police but became the centre of violence on Wednesday
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he is deeply concerned about scenes of violence in Northern Ireland.
Police were attacked, petrol bombs thrown and a bus set on fire in another night of disorder in Belfast. The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality, he said.
The disturbances took place on both sides of an interface in the loyalist Shankill and nationalist Springfield Road areas of the city on Wednesday.
Forty-one police officers were injured in disturbances in parts of Northern Ireland over the Easter period, involving children as young as 13.