Posted by Jim on January 12, 2013
A flags protest at Belfast City Hall swiftly degenerated into violence
this afternoon after a unionist mob charged towards a nationalist
enclave in east Belfast, attacking homes and launching into hours of
intense riots.
PSNI police chiefs were accused of facilitating illegal parades both
before and after the ‘peaceful’ City Hall protest, where hundreds of
flag-waving loyalists gathered to demand the year-round flying of the
British Union flag.
Following the end of the protest at about 2.30pm, masked loyalists were
directed by PSNI landrovers towards the nationalist Short Strand, where
they duly began attacking homes and smashing windows. They then
launched into a furious daytime riot in front of the world’s assembled
media.
Local Sinn Fein Councillor Niall O Donnaghaile said tensions had been
running high among residents after five weeks of loyalist disturbances
in the area.
“What has been allowed to happen here is an absolute disgrace and now
we as a community have to deal with the fall out of illegal protests,
anti-democratic protests and people who simply cannot tolerate the fact
that the Short Strand as a community exists.”
Both loyalist and nationalist community workers expressed dismay at the
PSNI decision to block the Queen’s Bridge, all but ensuring violence
further south.
Mr O Donnghaile said a number of homes had been “seriously damaged”
along the Albertbridge Road as a result of the decision to permit the
illegal loyalist parade through the area.
The latest chapter of violence has also infuriated city centre
businesses who lost another day’s trade. It followed heavy clashes in
the same area last night and six consecutive days of riots last week.
Senior politicians from Belfast, Dublin and London are to meet next
week to discuss the protests. The DUP First Minister Peter Robinson and
the Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness will hold the
talks with the British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers and 26 County
Tanaiste Eamonn Gilmore.
Speaking earlier today, Mr Gilmore said: “This violence is being
orchestrated and those behind it are known criminals, intent on
creating chaos.
“This has nothing to do with real issues around flags and identity in a
shared society, which are the subject of intensive political
discussions at present.”
The PSNI said five of its members had been injured in the latest
outbreak of violence, and that two further plastic bullets were fired.
Tensions remain high in east Belfast and the Beersbridge Road area this
evening.
Posted by Jim on
Plastic bullets were fired and water cannons were used as rioting
erupted early this evening at loyalist flags protests.
The riots continued for several hours in Newtownabbey, outside Belfast,
and in Carrickfergus, County Antrim.
A large number of road blockings took place throughout the Six Counties
on Friday evening, causing major road disruption across the region.
In one incident, an elderly man was jeered by protestors in north
Belfast after they refused to allow him access to visit his dying wife.
The number of protestors was smaller than previous incidents before
Christmas, although the level of violence and determination of the
rioters appeared undiminished.
Some of the worst trouble was in Newtownabbey, where petrol bombs,
fireworks and other missiles were thrown at PSNI police, and a bus was
set on fire earlier.
In Carrickfergus, one PSNI man was injured by a mob throwing petrol
bombs, masonry and other missiles.
Thirty-three petrol bombs were thrown in total. The PSNI said they
fired five plastic bullets in return.
The rallies, dubbed by organisers as ‘Operation Standstill’, formed
part of a continuing loyalist campaign against the decision to restrict
the flying of the Union Jack Flag from Belfast City Hall.
Roads were blocked throughout County Antrim and County Down, including
in Bangor, Newtownards, Castlereagh, Clough, Clonduff, Dundonald,
Finaghy, and all across Belfast.
A ‘surprise’ protest planned for outside Leinster House in Dublin
tonight was postponed, but a further rally is planned for Belfast City
Hall on Saturday afternoon.
Posted by admin on January 8, 2013
Sinn Fein’s Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness has been awarded an
English aristocratic title in order to secure his resignation as an MP,
it has been confirmed.
His long-signalled resignation is part of a policy by Sinn Fein to end
‘double jobbing’. It followed the same arcane procedure required by the
London Parliament, which previously imposed an equally controversial
‘royal title’ on Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams.
Like all other Sinn Fein MPs, Mr McGuinness has never taken his seat in
Westminster. Despite this, he was accorded the royal appointment of the
‘Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead’, as part of the
eclectic resignation process required by Britain’s parliamentary
by-laws.
“Martin McGuinness resigned the same way as Gerry Adams in 2011,” a
spokesman for Sinn Fein confirmed.
“As Irish republicans we gave no time for antiquated and ridiculous
titles of the British parliamentary system then and this remains the
situation.
“What we need to see now is the writ being moved for a by-election to
allow the people of Mid-Ulster to have their say.”
Mr McGuinness was elected as MP for Mid-Ulster in 1997. He said his
decision to stand down was in line with Sinn Fein’s commitment to end
double-jobbing and he planned to concentrate on his role as a Stormont
assembly member and deputy first minister.
Francie Molloy, will seek to hold Sinn Fein’s Mid-Ulster seat in the
forthcoming by-election.
He was selected as his party’s candidate to contest the seat last month
at a convention in Gulladuff, County Derry, in December.
A former director of elections for Bobby Sands, he was also involved in
the civil rights movement.
In 2005, he was briefly suspended from Sinn Fein for saying he wanted
the number of councils to be cut to 15, rather than seven – the party’s
preferred number.
Mr Molloy, who will be defending a sizable Sinn Fein majority in the
strongly natonalist onstituency, said he was delighted to be selected.
“The party has been represented by Martin McGuinness since 1997 and
although he will be a hard act to follow if elected I will endeavour to
serve the people of Mid Ulster with the same determination and fortitude
in improving the lives of all the citizens of the area,” he said.
Speaking after Mr Molloy’s selection, Mr McGuinness said: “Francie will
make an exceptional MP and representative for the people of Mid Ulster.”
Posted by Jim on January 6, 2013
A loyalist gunman opened fire tonight in east Belfast as three nights
of rioting by the paramilitary UVF escalated. Tonight again saw attacks
against both the PSNI police and residents of the nationalist Short
Strand enclave.
The PSNI said they had come under fire and arrested a loyalist on
suspicion of attempted murder.
While examples of British state forces in the North coming under fire
from unionist paramilitaries are extremely rare, the incident marks a
potentially significant development in the UVF’s campaign of terror.
There have been paramilitary-orchestrated protests in Belfast since
early December when Alliance members on Belfast City Council voted with
Sinn Fein and the SDLP to restrict the number of days on which the
British union flag flies over City Hall to 15 from 365.
The violence, which stopped over Christmas, began again on Thursday.
Today’s disorder began this afternoon when hundreds of loyalists
returning east from a protest at City Hall again attacked nationalist
homes in the Short Strand enclave, before turning their firepower on
the PSNI. The PSNI turned water cannon against more than 100 loyalists
hurling fireworks, smoke bombs and bricks, before gunshots rang out.
Last night saw open street violence on the Lower Newtownards Road, the
Beersbridge area and in Newtownabbey areas of Belfast. Missiles
including petrol bombs, fireworks, bricks and ball bearings were again
thrown at nationalists and the PSNI.
‘PROTECT THE SHORT STRAND’
Local Sinn Fein Councillor Niall O Donnghaile called on the PSNI to
ensure that attacks on isolated catholic communities like the Short
Strand “masked under the guise of flag protests” are brought to an
immediate end.
“There has been some good work done by the PSNI in keeping unionist
rioters away from this community but significant mistakes have been
made in facilitating illegal protests and marches in East Belfast,” the
former Sinn Fein Lord Mayor added.
East Belfast MP Naomi Long described reports that shots had been fired
in the vicinity as “deeply disturbing.” The Alliance politician said it
was further proof the ongoing protests were becoming inextricably
linked with violence.
“This latest rioting, and chilling reports of shots being fired, mark a
new low and must be unequivocally condemned. The context for policing
them has changed as the protests and violence have become more
orchestrated,” she said.
Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore also condemned the loyalist violence.
“This is the third successive day of unrest in Belfast,” he said.
“These attacks over the past three days are not the mark of legitimate
protest but are the actions of a small group who want to bring Northern
Ireland back to a darker past”.
Posted by Jim on December 21, 2012
Loyalists are again attempting to bring the North to a standstill this evening with road closures in Belfast and across the north.
The demonstrations coincide with evening rush-hour on what is also the busiest shopping weekend of the year.
Trouble broke out at similar protests on Monday night as loyalists again took to the streets over a reduction in the flying of the British Union Jack flag at Belfast City Hall.
Loyalists have been demonstrating against that decision on an almost daily basis for over two weeks.
Dozens of locations have been listed for protests on a website this evening, including areas of Belfast, Bangor, Portadown, Lisburn, Newtownards and Carrickfergus.
Plans to push ahead with the protests came as political leaders held a marathon special meeting at Stormont yesterday to discuss the flags crisis.
After almost eight hours of talks the five main parties issued a joint statement.
The collective response condemned the riots that have marred some of the demonstrations. However, it did not call for an end to the protests.
Protests are taking place this evening at flashpoints such as Twaddell, Hesketh and Crumlin Road in north Belfast as well as at Finaghy and Shaw’s Bridge in the south of the city, the Knock carriageway in the east and Shankill Road and the Broadway roundabout in the west.
Demonstrations are also planned for Larne, Derry, Portadown and Ballymena.
MONDAY MAYHEM
There are fears that the protests could lead to rioting, as seen on Monday night when loyalist mobs erupted into violence in several areas.
The worst of the disturbances took place in the Sandy Row area of Belfast, where a tourist bus was burned out by loyalists armed with petrol bombs. Tourists visiting Belfast city centre had to be taken back to County Wexford in a replacement coach.
Clashes also took place at a flags protest near the Alliance Party office on the Newtownards Road, where a mob of 200 loyalists ran amok.
Belfast Telegraph reporter Adrian Rutherford was punched to the ground and his phone was stolen by a masked man as he reported from the scene in east Belfast.
In other incidents, a taxi driver was attacked by protesters blocking a road in north Belfast. The driver, who did not want to be named, said he stopped at a junction when a man who appeared to be orchestrating the blockade ordered a gang of youths to attack his car.
“I keep hearing that these protests are peaceful when they’re anything but,” he said. “Had they managed to drag me from my car I have no doubt would have been seriously injured or even killed.”
In the county Antrim town of Carrickfergus, five masked loyalists burst into the Town Hall and terrified councillors.
A veteran Alliance Party politician, Sean Neeson said he was left “shaken” after the gang stormed into the council chamber and shouted sectarian abuse at him. One of the gang reportedly called Mr Neeson a “Fenian c***” while another pointed an object, believed to have been a golf umbrella, in the direction of councillors.
Trouble also flared in Lisburn and Portadown as the blockades closed dozens of roads across the North.
OMINOUS DEVELOPMENTS
Later in the week, British Union Jack flags were newly erected at a number of sectarian interfaces. The move came as loyalist paramilitary groups ended their support for an agreement on the reduction of flag-flying in the North.
As part of the new campaign of intimidation, flags were erected near Catholic schools and in dozens of other controversial locations — including outside Holy Cross Girls Primary School in north Belfast, the scene of a bitter loyalist protest a decade ago which made headlines around the world.
In east Belfast, members of the UVF have been accused of orchestrating the protests and being involved in violent incidents sucb as attacks on the offices of the SDLP and Alliance parties in the North. On Wednesday, five Assembly members from Sinn Fein and Alliance received death threats in the form of bullets posted to their offices.
This week, the PSNI said they had arrested sixteen people across the North, nine children and just seven adults. Among those held were children aged 11 and 12. However, it is understood that no loyalist paramilitaries have yet been arrested or threatened with the revocation of their release licences — a routine PSNI tactic against former republican prisoners.
eirigi’s Pádraic Mac Coitir said the flags protests had confirmed that the North remains a hostile place for nationalists.
“How many times have constitutional nationalists told us the Orange state is no more and that we live in a more tolerant society?” he asked.
“The issue of flags is a smokescreen for the wider sectarianism being waged by unionists.
“Sinn Féin and the SDLP bowed to pressure during a debate in Belfast city council and agreed to let that flag on certain days, including the birthday of the English queen.
“Already in many parts of Belfast unionists are putting up more flags, especially in so-called interfaces.”
He warned that loyalists would be allowed to continue with their disturbances thanks to “their allies in the PSNI”.
“This is in stark contrast to the PSNI response to peaceful marches and protests held by republicans.”
Just after making this statement earlier this week, Mr Mac Coitir was arrested and imprisoned this week by the PSNI. He is currently being held at Maghaberry jail in connection with a peaceful sit-down protest in north Belfast against a sectarian Orange Order parade in July, 2010.