There were disturbances in Lurgan, Co Armagh last night following a parade by the loyalist Royal Black Preceptory.
At 6.30 p.m. a car was hijacked and set on fire by two masked men, one of whom had a handgun. Petrol bombs were thrown at army units and the police station was attacked with bricks, bottles and and petrol bombs. A PSNI spokesman said there were no injuries.
The spokesman said officers were forced to re-route yesterday's parade because a member of the public blocked the original route with a car. "The person responsible for blocking the intended route is to be reported with a view to prosecution," he added.
But the SDLP Assembly member for the area, Ms Dolores Kelly, called for the Royal Black Preceptory to be banned from ever marching in Lurgan again, claiming members had breached a Parades Commission determination.
"They deliberately flouted it by marching through the whole of the town centre and playing sectarian tunes. Their behaviour was provocative, inflammatory and intimidatory,"
she said.
Earlier members of the group were attacked as they travelled from Lurgan to the seaside town of Bangor. A small group of nationalist youths threw stones and bottles at a train carrying members of the group and their families.
The PSNI said that as the train passed the nationalist Kilwilkee estate, a number of youths threw seven petrol bombs, paint and stones. There were no reports of injuries but windows in one carriage were damaged.
