THE PSNI is preparing for a major security operation in north Belfast tomorrow evening following a weekend marked by serious unrest in areas such as Ballyclare, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus and Magherafelt.
Tensions ahead of the Twelfth of July Orange Order parades were heightened by the violence which continued through Saturday night and into yesterday morning in different parts of counties Antrim and Derry.
Several police officers were injured when trouble flared in Ballyclare, Co Antrim. Police were attacked by loyalists throwing petrol bombs, stones, bottles and other missiles. At one stage a bus was hijacked and used to ram a police vehicle with officers inside.
The violence erupted at about 11.30pm following the earlier removal by police of loyalist flags. Up to 100 people were involved in the disorder and police used water cannon and also fired a number of plastic bullets. Police said they believed several protesters were struck, but said there were no reports of injuries.
There was also violence in Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey and Larne. A 27-year-old man was arrested following trouble in Magherafelt, Co Derry. The trouble occurred at about 3am near a bonfire in the Leckagh Drive area of the town. Police believe attacks on a number of homes were sectarian.
Vehicles were set on fire and roads blocked during the violence.
Meanwhile, the annual Drumcree parade in Portadown passed off peacefully yesterday. Orangemen were again prevented by police from making their return route via the nationalist Garvaghy Road. Fewer than 300 Orangemen took part in the parade to Drumcree, which was the scene of serious violence in the mid- to late 1990s and in the early part of this century.
No nationalist protest took place, with just a few people watching the parade pass by St John’s Church at the head of the Garvaghy Road in the morning.
Darryl Hewitt, district master of Portadown No 1 lodge, said the Orangemen’s resolve to parade down Garvaghy Road, which has not happened since 1998, remained firm. “Portadown district are in this for the long haul; we will not be deflected from seeking to achieve our objective,” he told the Orangemen and their supporters close to the police barrier at Drumcree.
Mr Hewitt accused the Parades Commission of “rewarding the intransigence” of those who refused to engage in dialogue and punishing those who were willing to talk.
The main security attention is now turning to Ardoyne in north Belfast tomorrow evening – scene of serious rioting last year and in previous years – when the return Orange Order feeder parade passes by local shops.
With no agreement on the parade between the local community and the Orange Order, a huge security operation is being planned for the evening.
In the context of concern regarding another serious outbreak of violence – with the added possibility of dissident republicans stoking trouble – the Catholic Bishop of Down and Connor, Dr Noel Treanor, appealed for calm in the days ahead.
Reflecting on the weekend violence and previous disorder in north and east Belfast, Dr Treanor appealed to people to demonstrate that they could “live and let live”.
“I encourage all of us, especially the communities of north and east Belfast, to give way to peace at all times – especially in the coming week – to resist all forms of provocation and violence for the sake of a better tomorrow and the greater good of all citizens, to support the PSNI in their presence and efforts to protect the community,” Dr Treanor added.