Protesters clash with police in Belfast

Wet weather and the prospect of major protests across the North today kept many people at home yesterday evening, but protesters…

Wet weather and the prospect of major protests across the North today kept many people at home yesterday evening, but protesters reappeared on the streets of Belfast last night and roadblocks were erected in some parts of the city.

The RUC reported a number of confrontations with protesters. Police and drivers were stoned in the Oldpark and Shore Road areas of Belfast as well as in Newtownabbey.

Barricades were set alight on many of the blocked roads around the north and east of the city and there were reports of protests and road-blocks in Lisburn, Cooks town, Dungannon, Carrickfergus and Derry.

Scorch damage was caused to the doors of a Catholic church in Carnmoney, on the northern outskirts of Belfast, after a petrolbomb attack.

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In Larne, Co Antrim, police recovered two fireworks wrapped with nails and an assortment of hand weapons and UDA paraphernalia.

The RUC is investigating an attack on Ballybriest Orange Hall in Co Tyrone, which was extensively damaged by fire early yesterday morning. The hall is only a few miles from Stewartstown, where a car-bomb which exploded near the town's RUC station caused extensive damage to a number of houses.

There were a number of disturbance across the North on Saturday night, including petrol-bomb attacks in Larne and in Dundonald, Belfast. The most serious incident was in Carrickfergus, Co Antrim, where four cars and a bus were hijacked and set on fire and police were petrolbombed. Three men were arrested.