Police are revising the tactics being used to deal with Union flag rioters, Northern Ireland’s most senior police officer revealed today.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable Matt Baggott was speaking after another weekend of violence following flag protests.
Mr Baggott described the disorder in Cloughfern, Carrickfergus and east Belfast on Friday and Saturday as intense, and warned those involved to expect a knock at the door.
“Our approach has always been to be measured and responsible,” he said.
“We have simply to put public safety first. That has worked very well and continues to work well. Pragmatically, when you have over 4,000 people engaged in protest, it is simply impossible to have a rigid approach to that. What we are keen to do is to keep hospitals and arterial routes open, and are continually revising our tactics.
“There is speculation about why doesn’t the PSNI do this. The reality is we make sure that people’s rights for peaceful protest are upheld wherever possible, and we preserve our resources for dealing with the most serious outbreaks of violence.”
On Saturday, violence broke out in east Belfast between republicans and loyalists returning from a protest at Belfast City Hall over the council decision to restrict the flying of the Union flag there.
On Friday night, during rioting in Cloughfern and Carrickfergus in Co Antrim, officers were pelted with bricks, bottles, fireworks and other missiles. At one point a railway sleeper was used to ram police lines.
To date, 101 police officers have been injured during the rioting, one of whom remains in hospital. There have been 112 arrests connected to the disorder.
The chief constable stopped short of saying that the PSNI would move flag protesters off the streets.
Mr Baggott added: “I think there is a reality check about the role of policing in a democracy. Unless you are going to literally have tens of thousands of police officers, probably backed up by the military covering every street in Northern Ireland, you cannot deal with this simply by law enforcement approach.
“Policing is all about the consent of the public and working with politics and at the moment that is the bit that needs to be reasserted. What I can do, in charge of this fantastic organisation, is to make sure that we give space for the politics to work.
“Our approach to widespread protest will remain to be measured and responsible, making sure that passes peacefully as we have done for the vast majority of protests since this began.
“Where we do get outbreaks of intense, out of control violence, we will bring it into control very quickly and constrain it in those geographic areas. I don’t think I can ask any more in terms of strategic approach. It is the right approach and I don’t think there is an alternative.”
Mr Baggott also said criminal gangs in working class loyalist areas were exploiting young protesters for their own ends.
He added: “They were leading young people by the nose towards prison.”
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers was due to hold crisis talks with traders in Belfast on the impact of the Union flag protests later today.
PA