Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
POLICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND have said that a number of petrol bombs, fireworks and other missiles were thrown at officers during protests this evening.
The PSNI said it was dealing with disorder at the O’Neill Road roundabout in Newtownabbey, north of Belfast.
Water cannon were deployed to disperse protesters and a number of roads were blocked but have now reopened.
BBC News reports that a plastic bullet was fired by police after they were attacked in Carrickfergus.
Police use water cannon in the Cloughfern area of Newtownabbey to disperse rioters. (Image: Paul Faith/PA Wire)
Loyalist protesters in the Cloughfern area of Newtownabbey. (Image: Paul Faith/PA Wire)
PSNI officers in Newtownabbey. (Image: Paul Faith/PA Wire)
According to RTÉ News, a bus was also set on fire in the Rathcoole area of Newtownberry during tonight’s events.
Protests over Belfast City Council’s decision to restrict the number of days the Union flag flies over its headquarters has brought 39 days of protest to the area.
A protest to the protests has been launched using social media. ‘Operation Sit-In’ has encouraged locals to go out and support local pubs and restaurants.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I was in Belfast earlier today and you wouldn’t even know anything was going on. I can’t help but feel that the main fuel source for these ‘protests’ is the media attention they receive. A few people I’ve spoken to have said that dozens upon dozens of journalists are present at flashpoints each evening before anything kicks off.
If the world is expecting to see a few cheap pics each evening, then it doesn’t help to quell the anger.
I mean most of the rioting/terror is done in the evening/night not during the day. This happens after their afternoon protests.
Mart nothing was going on until 6pm. Did you try using any of the main roads leading out of the city centre? Dublin Road? Ormeau Road? Etc.?? Loyalists blocked them all.
Oh dear……how long more is this going to last?
For as long as the bigots are let carry on as lawless thugs.
We all need to take a firmer stance towards this type of mindless violence.
As a state we should also be putting pressure england to resolve this mess and reunite Ireland as we can’t continue with this crap and boybands on 12th july.
It will never end…northern Irish politics is all about one upmanship more then anything else. A small number of small
minded people ruin it for everyone else. All we hear about the north from down south is this kind of crap. In fact the north is a great place and this thuggery is not representative.
What the north needs is its own identity, a northern Irish flag and northern Irish ideals the whole province can get behind. Being Irish will always be completely unacceptable to the unionists, and they aren’t going anyway, the north is their home. Being British will always be unacceptable to the nationalists and the same applies to them. They need to get along as northern Irish citizens and just forget about trying to be either Irish or British.
No such thing as northern irish so no identy exists..It cant be independent either as it is a failes state propped up by British direct investment.
Your identity is how you perceive yourself, and in the last census people were asked if they saw themselves as British, Irish, Northern Ireland etc or a combination of them so yes, northern Irish does exist.
Should have typed “Northern Irish”
Its time for the PSNI to dish out some hammerins..
Im Eatern Irish so,since i dont identify with the West of Ireland.Or maybe im South Dublin Irish,or Republic of Irish.
The whole province? Would you be including Donegal, Cavan and Monaghan in that?
Absolutely. Listen to the clip on Radio Ulster of the old man begging loyalist protestors to let him through to see his dying wife. Sickening how they jeered him. They should all be lifted and the young children such as the wee girls on the Ormeau should be lifted by social workers.
Do you know what would be really funny, if people started quoting Father Ted because no one has done that before………….
Does it say Eastern Ireland of the front of your passport? Cause there are plenty of people with ones that have the words Northern Ireland on the front, so it’s hardly the same thing
It says United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,the nationality on it is British.There is no such thing as northern irish.
Dougal, we are not watching aliens!!!!
You can be dam sure if it was catholic or nationalist carry on like this and for this long, serious action would be taken by the police.
The brits would be out on the street again,hundreds of arrests and total lockdown.RUC are just puttting on a show for the media
Yes because it’s still 1972 the last time hundreds of people were arrested at once
I do hope this ends soon! I heard a Northern guy on radio today saying this is actually more related to the English youth riots than sectarianism! Interesting perspective and probably spot on! Flag is only an issue for tiny number!
Yeah…which begs the question a to why Westminster haven’t intervened so far. It’s a whole different story when the riots appear on their doorstep in London…goes to show those little Loyalists how much they give a feck about them.
DEY TUK ERR FLEG! DURKER DURR!
There were protests this evening in Glasgow and Liverpool aswell. There is definitely a bnp/combat 18 element involved in whats going here, especially as we all know the links the uvf have with those organisations.
You’re right.
There were BNP and Britain First (Neo-Nazi group) speakers invited to the Belfast demosntrations in recent days.
There we are Mark, we are where we are.. Bash the fash I say
You’re wrong. in the 70s the BNP tried to foster links with the UVF, the UVF sent their only Afro Caribbean member to tell them no thanks, but don’t let facts get in the way if your prejudices
Brian do you any research at all? under that bridge?
@Brian MacMathghamha, I’m curious as to where you read that? Interesting if that did happen.
Its widely known that the UVF and loyalist paramilitaries have links with the BNP. I have also seen EDL protests with people carrying Ulster and King Billy flags…they align themselves with loyalists and their cause mainly due to their hatred of the IRA and ‘Fenians’. There was an ‘anti-IRA’ march in Liverpool only a few months back organised by the so called North West Infidels; support for these kinds of groups aren’t very large but they can be vocal with a good few nutters in their wing.
Isn’t it so interesting that about 0 •1 % of the Unionist population even give the slightest consideration to this protest .
Most right thinking people in Ulster
(The Nine Counties ) were cheering for Ulster tonight, in their win in the Heineken Cup – so interesting that the vast majority of the flags on view there were the proper Ulster flags – representing the Nine Counties of the Province – one of the Four Provinces of Ireland – the Yellow & Red Hand of Ulster . Glory , Glory !
One of the Four Great Provinces of Ireland .
My sympathies are with the ordinary decent people of NI who are stuck in the middle of all this. Between extremists that would have no place in the world without hate and bigotry.
Those in the Republic & those in Britain should be supporting these people, however its always the extremists on both sides that drive the agenda.
Simple solution. Fly the both the Union Jack and tricolour side by side over city hall 365 days a year. Problem sorted.
Fly the gay pride flag instead. If there’s one thing loyalists hate more than Fenians, it’s gay people. God help ya if yer a gay Fenian though!!
NO! There was a democratic vote and the Union flag is NOT going back up for 365 days a year. No where in Britain do they do this in reference to the Union flag only Northern Ireland. Once you give into terrorism, terrorism governs.
Where are the Ulster Nationalists in all of this? They’ve been quiet about it all. Probably the most sane political idealists of the lot… I doubt they’d be too worked up over the removal of any foreign flag.
Auld King Billy was gay!
You are taking the p
Ulster Nationalism is gone. It was just based off the fear that NI would be abandoned by the British Government. Ulster “Loyal”ism has nothing to do with loving the Queen or whatever. It’s about ethnic/religious supremacy and control.
When I say ‘nationalism’ I don’t mean any grouping in particular.. just sincere people with a preference to be independent of all the bullshit and bad-will connected to NI. The vast vast majority of people in both Britain & the ROI would rather see NI become independent.
Of course at the end of the day it’s up to only Northern Irish people to determine their own identity, but if the extremes of both sides really cared about their ‘indigenous’ peers; they’d take into account the wishes of those people.
There is no northern irish identity,
The definition of a country – By: Mark Humphrys
Irish nationalists often assume that the island of Ireland is a natural political entity, and should be a country, and it is “artificial” to partition it. Let us look at how one can define the borders of any of the countries on earth in the first place.
The fact is there is no set of formal principles whereby one can define the borders of the countries of the earth. The principle of “self-determination” of a people is too vague. What size people? How large does the group have to be before they get self-determination? What if they live intermingled with another group that also deserves self-determination? Even if one can identify a group that deserves self-determination, how does one determine the territory? Does the group have to be a majority in all parts of the territory, or only a majority overall? If only a majority overall, there are lots of pieces around the edge of the territory that could easily be included or not included on whim. There is no way of deciding.
Consider this thought experiment (Not my idea – I heard this somewhere): If there was a land bridge between Ireland and Scotland (as there was in the past), we would have to draw the border somewhere on the land. It would probably be drawn not far from where it is, and it would be accepted. People – especially in the South – would be far more relaxed about it. It is the fact that Ireland is an island that makes one think the border should be at the sea. But this is not really logical.
What I am making are the following points:
There is no a priori reason why the border can’t be roughly where it is, rather than at the sea. In other words, the island of Ireland is not an indivisible unit laid down by God. Partitioning the island is no more “artificial” than partitioning Europe.
However, we must accept that all borders on earth will be somewhat random. All countries on earth will “capture” populations that could easily be part of another country. People will for random reasons be caught on the wrong side of the border from their point of view.
Therefore, the only solution to this is that it should not matter what side of the border you are caught on. All countries on earth should be ultra-neutral, secular, liberal democracies where all minorities feel like first-class citizens. Countries should not try to stand for a common culture, heritage, religion or beliefs. The state should be neutral about such things. A Catholic trapped in the North – or Protestant trapped in the South – should feel only modest disappointment, but no real effect on their daily life.
This is the point betrayed by the UUP in the North, and betrayed by de Valera in the South.
In my personal opinion Northern Ireland should have not been created because Ireland was united as one during the Union. It was the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland” not the “United Kingdom of Ireland and Northern Ireland”. I think Northern Ireland’s creation is artificial in that sense. The majority of people in Ireland wanted independence (51%+). It would be like partitioning part of Scotland if they vote for independence in 2014. There should be only a vote on partitioning Scotland after it becomes independent which the Scottish Government should take care of (not the British Government), if a large part of the population in a certain area of Scotland want to secede from the rest of Scotland. The same should have applied to Ireland. The creation of Northern Ireland has been nothing but a disaster and was wrong to create.
At the time shipbuilding was a major driver of the 6 counties economy.Now its a drain on the British Exchequer,civil service biggest employer and to think the brits were all over Greece about its bloated public sector lol.Riots cost 7 million pounds to police,swear the loyalists were out to cripple the brits!!!
@MartN – I agree on Britain not wanting Northern Ireland but the rest of Ireland not caring? No. Northern Ireland has become irrelevant down South but that doesn’t mean people don’t care what happens to it. At the end of the day it still is Ireland and Ireland has only been divided for 92 years. But I would be terrified if there was a vote now and the majority voted for a UI because we would obviously receive a loyalist backlash/terror problem; seeing the amount of extremism/hatred being displayed the last month. The idea of this spilling down South is truly terrifying. A United Ireland is just a matter of time in my opinion; as the voice of reason, moderacy, and tolerance prevails in the North so will a United Ireland. But I’m no fan of Sinn Fein’s tactics, behavior, or ideology either. Everything they do seems to damage the prospect of a United Ireland happening sooner than later. A lot of wounds need to be healed as well in Northern Ireland.
Totally agree, Robert. At the end of day whether you come from the North or South you’re still considered a paddy in Britain no matter how much one claims they are “British”. Belfast comes nowhere near to Dublin based on history, architecture, culture, food, landmarks, tourism, etc. in my opinion. This was an interesting documentary on Ulster Loyalists. It’s actually called “Blood and Belonging” not the divisive name the poster (called Loyalist) re-named it as which was “Ulster Protestants”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9sQ0ohM_8c
How do you know all loyalists hate gays? Is it the policy of the PUP? Or are you letting your prejudices speak for you?
Of course you’re right and the million plus that think there is and live there are of course wrong. What next are you going to inform the millions of Israelis that they are actually Palestinians?
“Ulster Against Sodomy” ring a bell? Who was behind that Gerry? Oh wait Jesus’s disciple Ian!! The DUP and UUP are homophobic while being the largest Unionist parties. The PUP only have 2 seats and that is in the local NI government. All the homophobic NI politicians are Unionists, that says something. Stop bringing up the Israel-Palestine conflict; it’s a totally different conflict, even if people up North like to use it to further their division/hate.
If this is how they carry on about 1 flag, can you imagine how much they’d get their knickers in a twist if a united Ireland was ever announced? Reckon they’d spontaneously implode.
Water cannons ….. Finally!!
I think we should say another mass
We’d be better off just putting the brick on the accelerator.
Yawn. Can people stop with the Ted phrases that have nothing to do with the story?
That would be an ecumenical matter!
Good man Eddie.. Think that was lost on most
Down with that sort of thing
Careful now!
Two people had the “down with this sort of thing” and “careful now” placards at the last peace rally at Belfast City Hall.
Eddie stop being a dick
Go on – have a cup of tea !
They’re only happy when they’re miserable
I am not wondering about loyalists anger, I wondering about police helplessness… Every person who throwing or even more shooting something to policeman should be arrested immediately using the force needed for this. Why should NI people should pay taxes to government if government cannot do this permanent job keep the peace an safety? I do not belive it is not possible, police should not wait for something but strike against people who are against the law. Does not matter who they are loyalists, republicans or just criminals.
Easy to say arrest them all but it’s simply not possible, or safe for the police to do. Once the police break ranks they are sitting targets for petrol bombs and rocks, and a police officer wearing helmet, body armour, belt kit, public order gear, heavy boots is unlikely to catch a youth wearing a tracksuit who will run into a crowd who will hide them. They are however very good at recording footage and identifying them later.
He would if he could see them!
Why they are wrecking the place they say they love?:(
All they love are their own egos
Say hello to bono
Too much publicity, it just keeps the going.
It’s purely BNP/ Combat 18/ Polish! That’s right Polish! One was charged earlier in the week! What the fooks it to do with him! Get out the REAL bullets and shoot them dead! Or are they just kept for civil rights protests!!
Don’t the loyalists burn Polish flags? lol.
It must of being a confused pole because any of the polish that work with me hate the huns. Do you not remember norn iron v Poland a couple of years ago. Killings!
Where are the plastic bullets ?
In the plastic guns Eddie ; )
AEP rounds where fired this evening.
Sure wouldn’t we all love a goat.
what’s wrong with them is they feel unloved. everyone hates them. the English hate them, the Irish hate them, they hate themselves evidenced by the way they treat their fellow citizens,police etc. whether they like it or not they are losing their identity. they lost it when they came to live in Ireland 400 years ago.
It used to be illegal to fly the tricolour in the 6 counties. I wonder is the irony lost on them?
I know the Unionists in Scotland have scheduled protests outside the SNP’s offices lol. What on earth does protesting Democracy do or accomplish? LOL.
Yeah, they had a big solidarity demonstration in St. George’s Square in Glasgow a few weeks back. I’ve also heard of a few buses of protestors going over to Belfast from Scotland. Believe me, I’ve seen some of these lads ‘protesting’ before and they’re not very friendly. Can’t understand what business it is of theirs even if they’re unionists themselves.
Is it true that they wouldn’t let a Man past to get to his wife in hospital dying from cancer? When they did let him true they start chanting Cheerio Cheerio Cheerio
Theres a recording of it on youtube
To the outside world, Irish is Irish.
Someone in my work asked me yesterday about the protests in the North. I explained as best I could (much to the bemusement of this particular Londoner!) and they replied, “I really don’t understand these people…why do they want to be British so much when we don’t really know they exist”. Most people in Britain haven’t a clue about the north and don’t consider them truly British anyway…
Sums it up pretty much.
The Queen says you’re very naughty boys……your not allowed play with your flags for a week.
The lads in the pub say they have the solution. Dettol and water jet, add the dettol and jet at 70 miles per hour.
Ah feck it! Might as well use cilet bang!….bang and the dirt is gone!!
Richard, how about using the blog to have “meetings to discuss” in the pub! If nothing else you’d get great business out of it while we discuss the woes of the various topics on the journal. ;)
Crazy thing is that the Union Jack is flown in Belfast city hall in accordance with directive from BRITISH department of sport, media and CULTURE to all councils in UK. They recommend 20 days per yr and as St. David’s/George/Andrew dont apply Belfast flies it the other 17 days as per a democratic vote taken at council.
Boom Boom Jamie
Surely the officials from both sides could sit down over a cuppa tae and come to a mutual agreement..?
Just thugs .looking for an excuse..absolute scrum
I understand what you are saying and agree but obviously there is a group that have a cause.
What else do you suggest just leave them be, to a point of people needlessly dieing..?
If officials from both sides meet at least a effort has been made by both sides..
Democratic vote.Nothing to work out.You dont like it there are ferries to Scotland every day.End of.Give em an inch they will take 6 counties
Yeah that’s not going to help. The unionists were born and bred in the north. They identify as British and don’t see Scotland as home so what do you suggest they do? And by the way, yeah plantations were wrong but that was centuries ago, build a bridge is apt here
They are descended from Scots and the vote was democratic.If they arent happy they should go to Scotland and hang with the Rangers bigots.Democracy is the wah forward for em until it works against them
yeah in 1998 we were asked to vote for, and accept, the unionist veto as being legitimate and undeniably democratic.. and we did, 92 per cent of us in the 26 counties… now we see a nationalist veto emerging and we are being told to just put that flag back up to appease the minority? (as in recent red c poll)…. double-standards really grate on me..
just to clarify, I was part of the eight per cent..
Robert – just so you know where I am coming from, i am a fluent Irish speaker and ideally I would love to see a united Ireland. But democracy or not, it will never be acceptable to the unionist population. Your suggestion that they take a boat to scotland is flirting with ethnic cleansing. It isn’t an option, progress with northern Irish peace isn’t going to happen until everyone accepts that. Why do you have a problem with northern Irish identity other then in your opinion it doesn’t exist? Try telling that to Rory mcilroy
Northern irish (grammatical capital nothing else) has as much validity as western irish or south eastern irish.The free state bows again and again to loyalists and it has to stop.Democratic decision,end of story.The IRA were blowin brits up left right and centre,starving themselves to death and do you think the british press felt sorry for them???Were they sayin the unionist state is unacceptable to republicans so lets all sit down and work something out in the 70s/80s.I think not.
No – that is your opinion. I have lived in the north for 2 years and I haven’t met anyone who would identify with these flag protesters. When I tell people down south positive aspects of the north they look at me like I have 2 heads. My northern Irish friends are constantly subjected to the ‘well are you British or Irish’ question when they come south. A substantial number actually find that question tedious and irrelevant which is why more and more of them do define themselves as Northern Irish. I know for a fact you wouldn’t tell such a northerner that there is no such thing as Northern Irish to their face – being from south Dublin myself I have met plenty of people like yourself
Spot on Robert!!
Funny thing is John i dont have to because outside Britain and Ireland everyones a paddy.Lad i know tried tell a girl he was northern irish in a bar and she laughed in his face
Willie Frazer is an attention seeking idiot!nhttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Frazer
His hair freaks me out, he is very odd looking, but dangerous to go with it
How would you feel if your neighbours had murdered lots of your relatives with the connivance of the next jurisdiction? Perhaps you too would be slightly bitter
Briain – I would be about as bitter as someone who had seen all of their family face years of discriminations, threats and violence from a bigoted section of society. Wrongs were committed on both sides but if Northern Ireland wants to move on (as the vast majority of its people do) then this bitterness needs to be consigned to history
Brian are you alluding to free state/IRA collusion or proven factual Loyalist/British collusion?
Tommorrow should be fun if they make their way down here!! ..
It was cancelled as far as I heard.
The whole flag issue is a classic example of the Loyalists/Unionists grabbing defeat out of the jaws of victory because the Republicans/Nationalists on Belfast City Council actually voted to fly the Union Flag for the designated days as opposed to not flying it all. They also voted last year to fund street parties to celebrate the Queen of England’s diamond jubilee. These are concrete examples of Republicans/Nationalists recognising the identity and allegiances of the Loyalist/Unionist people. As an Irish Republican brought up in Derry I cannot think of one occasion when the Unionists majority magnanimously passed a law that recognised the identity and the allegiances of the Republican/Nationalist people in the six counties. For example the Unionists in Stormont are dead set against an Irish Language Act at present which go a long way to recognise the identity of Catholic, Protestant and Dissenter who have an Irish identity. All of these issues should also be understood within the context of a changing demography whereby the split is 48% Protestant and 45% Catholic. In short the Loyalist/Unionist people are not being prepared by its leadership for the inevitable change that we are living through as result of the demographic shift.
Padraig,I bet you wouldn’t say that to their faces.
Richard I don’t want to get on the wrong side of you because I know you were in the U.S. special forces, but if you were a good landlord you would make sure your punters weren’t gasping for a drink, and not be neglecting them..the lads appreciate the lock-in by the way : )
Its hard to say it to there faces when they have all there faces covered. Just shows how proud they are when they can even show who they are
F#ck off you inbred imbeciles
Hilarious!
In May 2012, after seeing the Italian flag being flown as part of a cultural event held in Donaghmore’s St Patrick’s Primary School and mistaking it for the Irish Tricolour, Frazer accused the school for 4-11 year old children of being “the junior headquarters of SF/IRA youth”,
stating on Facebook that “I wounder do they also train the children in how to use weapons, for it seems they can do what they wont.
[sic]”
Concerned for the safety of students and the school’s reputation, teachers informed police of the accusations and photographs of the school posted by Frazer were later removed from Facebook.
Sickening!
“pensioner pleads with protesters” on YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI_VhAEwB0k&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Shame on the fools
The fact that YouTube links used within the journal app don’t work is extremely annoying.
the only thing these so called loyalists are loyal to is fighting their own queens constabulory
Jamie, no he wouldn’t that’s why he’s on a key pad like you.
Rumours of a device on the Westlink? Any confirmation?
Medical device?
Yes, was a pipe bomb, also a bomb hoax earlier in the day.
Just thinking the bother they go to about flying a flag and hardly a peep out of us and our entire country was squandered
To be honest, iv read all the comment and stuff.. I still dont give a f*ck what happens up there any more.. Brits have come and ruined the 6 counties, they can keep them now.. I for one want nothing to do with them..
I’ve stopped reading articles wit the word “flag in the headline.
Eh…evidently not!
Seriously. I didn’t read it. Just doing the comments page for a bit of crack. ;)
Hahaha!Always a good bit of craic in the comments wait til you have a nemesis!!!
Fly the flag then everyone will go home for tea. Peace and quite once more.
And give in to thugs? A democratic vote was taken regarding the flag. You’re implying if you don’t like democracy at work, start a riot and attack the police.
Ireland will be free :)
have your say