A bomb was defused outside a Belfast bar early today following a night of violent outbursts that overshadowed St Patrick's Day celebrations in the city.
The bomb, believed to be a number of pipe bombs taped together, was made safe several hours after a bar off Belfast's University Street was evacuated, as were several houses nearby.
Former Pogues singer Shane MacGowan had been due to perform at the Menagerie Bar when the alert began.
Pub owner Mr Francie Mackin said: "We have been preparing ourselves for the last couple of months to provide good entertainment for people, with top names and top DJs. "For this to happen is really a blow to St Patrick's Day."
Earlier a policeman sustained head injuries and three people were arrested after trouble broke out in Belfast city centre at the end of an open-air pop concert at City Hall headlined by Girls Aloud. Youths also ran amok through the Castlecourt shopping centre overturning stalls.
Later, police had to separate crowds of up to 200 people who gathered in the staunchly Protestant Shankill district of the city.
Loyalist representatives claimed republicans returning from the St Patrick's Day carnival attacked homes and cars in the Peters Hill area.
Mr Tommy Kirkham, spokesman for the Ulster Political Research Group, criticised others who had travelled to the United States and left Belfast exposed to sectarian tensions. He said: "While everybody is in Washington playing happy families, these attacks in the city centre are getting worse."
A police spokesman said no arrests had been made and no injuries were reported.
Police have arrested four men in connection with a serious assault in Bangor last night that left a man in critical condition in hospital.
A taxi driver found two men, one with serious head injuries, lying on the ground in Bangor's Lower Main Street at about 11 p.m. last night. Both men, in their twenties, were taken to hospital.
Elsewhere, a teenager (17) suffered serious head injuries after being beaten in north Belfast early on Thursday morning. He was standing outside a shop on the Cliftonville Road when he was attacked by a gang of men.
At the Lagan Lookout, a man (22) was stabbed several times as he was crossing the Lagan footbridge into East Belfast. Police are looking for two men who confronted the victim late last night.
His condition this morning is said to be serious but not life threatening.
Additional reporting PA