Police in Northern Ireland are investigating a number of violent incidents overnight, including attacks on both Catholic and Protestant church properties.
A parochial house in Lisburn was attacked early this morning with smoke canisters. The housekeeper of the house on the Rock Road heard voices outside at 12.50 a.m. The front window of the house was broken and the sitting room filled with smoke.
A smoke canister was found beside the sofa, causing scorch damage to the sofa and carpet, and a flare canister found outside the house which was later cleared. A Church of Ireland rectory and a parochial house were attacked in a separate incident in Co Antrim. Windows were smashed at the rectory in Glenavy and a car windscreen was also broken.
The Minister who lives in the property has spoken out against loyalist marches, suggesting the Church of Ireland sever ties with them.Rev Earl Storey admitted his book may have provoked the attack."It was trying to look in a reasoned way and taking away the passions on the issue of the Church of Ireland and the Orange Order," he said."It's only speculation but it may be in some way that may have caused offence or resentment."In Ballymena, Co Antrim, the occupants of a house were asleep in their beds when they were woken by a paint bomb which broke their bedroom window causing paint damage to the room. The front door was hit by a petrol bomb, causing minor scorch damage, and a second paint bomb hit the house. The incident occurred at 12.35 a.m.Earlier in the night a 15-year-old schoolboy was the victim of a paramilitary-style attack when three men forced their way into his house and struck him with baseball bats in his bedroom in Co Down.The assailants fractured the boy's left leg and inflicted a possible fracture to his left arm, as well as causing bruising to his back and the left-hand side of his body. They left in a car.The incident took place in the Johnston Park area of Carrowdore. Police are appealing for witnesses to contact detectives at Newtonards.A second paramilitary-style attack took place in the Glenmolina Crescent area of Belfast last night, when a 20-year-old was shot once in each ankle. He was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast where he is now detained.