DISTURBANCES OVER the Twelfth of July period have cost millions of pounds and left 82 police officers injured, PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggott said.
Mr Baggott yesterday accused dissident republicans of fomenting violence in Ardoyne in north Belfast and in other areas on the night of the Twelfth, on which 55 police officers were injured, including a female officer who was struck on the head with a breeze block.
There was also trouble in south and east Belfast, Lurgan and other areas, including Derry. Mr Baggott said some of the Ardoyne rioters were as young as “eight, nine and 10”, and that a “big debate” was required to address how to deal with contentious parades.
He described the Ardoyne violence as “a collective outpouring of recreational rioting with a really sinister edge”. During the disturbances, police were attacked with blast bombs, petrol bombs, bricks, stones, golf balls and other missiles. A number of people attacked police lines at close quarters with metal bars. There were also occasions when police took urgent cover as if they feared gun attacks.
Police fired a number of plastic bullets and used water cannon against rioters. Mr Baggott said there would be a major investigation into the rioting. He indicated it would have been dangerous and counterproductive to use police snatch squads to make arrests on the night, but that “significant numbers” of arrests would follow.
He said dissidents were involved in “fomenting” violence, and that he was investigating whether “international influences” were involved. He would not go into detail on what he meant, but said police were examining the issue of “tourist rioting”.
First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness and all the main Northern parties condemned the violence.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen said from the US: “All of us have to be very strong in our support for the policing service in Northern Ireland and the gardaí. We have to work even harder to avoid unrepresentative elements, who have nothing to offer their community, engaging in sectarian activities which have no place in a modern society.”
Iarnród Éireann has praised the reaction of staff during an attack by masked rioters on a Belfast to Dublin train on Monday evening. Up to 60 people forced the Enterprise train to come to a stop near Lake Street, Lurgan, Co Armagh, at about 5pm. Petrol bombs were thrown in an attempt to set fire to the driver’s area. However, staff were able to lock off the main passenger area from the rioters, Iarnród Éireann said.