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Some 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police in what has been termed an “orchestrated attack” during a further night of disorder in Northern Ireland.
Police were attacked in Newtownabbey, Co Antrim, on the outskirts of Belfast on Saturday.
North Area Commander Chief Superintendent Davy Beck said 30 petrol bombs were thrown at officers and three cars set alight in Newtownabbey on Saturday.
He said from around 7.30pm to 10.30pm a crowd of 20 to 30 people, including young people and older men, some of whom were wearing masks, gathered in the O’Neill Road/Cloughfern area.
“In total 30 petrol bombs were thrown at police and three vehicles were hijacked and set on fire,” he said.
“One man aged 47 was arrested and he currently remains in police custody.” Mr Beck said it was an “orchestrated attack on police”.
“My officers put on their uniform every day and go out into the community they serve, not knowing what lies ahead of them,” he said.
“However this does not deter them from turning up every day to do their duty. No-one, no matter what line of work they are in, deserves to be subjected to any kind of violence.
“The officers who serve the Newtownabbey area are fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, they have families who wait every day on their loved ones coming home, hoping they have not been injured, or worse.”
He added: “We are living in unprecedented times, dealing with a global pandemic, no-one needs the added pressure of disorder in their community. “I would appeal to those who are taking to the streets to stop immediately, their actions are causing nothing but harm and distress to the very communities they claim they are representing.”
Some loyalists and unionists are angry about post-Brexit trading arrangements which they claim have created barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Tensions ramped up further this week following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Féin politicians for attending the large funeral of republican Bobby Storey during Covid-19 restrictions.
The trouble followed successive nights of street violence in Belfast and Derry.
The PSNI said on Saturday that two boys, aged 13 and 14, were among eight people arrested in connection with riots in the loyalist Sandy Row area of south Belfast on Friday night.
Three men aged 25, 21 and 18, and a 19-year-old woman, have been charged with riot.
All four are due to appear at Belfast Magistrates Court on Friday, April 30th. All charges will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
Three males aged 17, 14 and 13 have also been charged with riot.
The three are due to appear at Belfast Youth Court, also on April 30th. The charges will also be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
A 19-year-old man also arrested following the disorder on Friday night has been released on police bail pending further enquiries.
Fifteen police officers were injured on Friday evening after being targeted in Sandy Row by a crowd of mostly young people throwing bottles, bricks and fireworks.
Heavy masonry, metal rods, fireworks and manhole covers were thrown at police.
Chief Supt Simon Walls said: “It’s a tragedy that any child, because let’s bear in mind a 13-year-old is a young child, I think it’s a tragedy that any child in Northern Ireland is sitting in a custody suite this morning, and facing criminal investigation, possibility of being charged and possibility of facing a criminal conviction.”
Speaking at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, he urged anyone with influence in the loyalist community to dissuade young people from causing violence.
“It shouldn’t happen... It’s not the way to resolve tensions or arguments.”
Meanwhile, 12 PSNI officers were injured in Derry on Friday night.
Derry City and Strabane area commander Chief Supt Darrin Jones said police received reports of youths gathering in the areas of Nelson Drive and Tullyally.
“On their arrival, they came under sustained attack from a large group of youths and young adults throwing masonry, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks,” he said.
“As a result 12 officers sustained injuries including head, leg and foot wounds.” Mr Jones also said a care home was damaged in the Nelson Drive area during the trouble causing “untold fear and distress” to residents.
‘Disorder’
Northern Ireland DUP First Minister Arlene Foster has appealed to young people not to get “drawn into disorder” over the Easter weekend, saying violence “will not make things better”.
She said: “I know that many of our young people are hugely frustrated by the events of this last week but causing injury to police officers will not make things better. And I send my strong support to all of the rank-and-file police officers that are on duty over this Easter weekend. I appeal to our young people not to get drawn into disorder which will lead to them having criminal convictions and blighting their own lives.”
She also asked parents to “play their part and be proactive in protecting their young adults”.
Sinn Féin TD Eoin Ó Broin said unionist and loyalist political leaders needed to calm down the situation in Northern Ireland and ensure there is no repeat of Friday’s night’s disturbance.
Mr Ó Broin said unionists politicians had been “ratcheting up the rhetoric” around the Northern Ireland protocol for several weeks and loyalist organisations organising protests “and then you have this street violence”.
“The real losers in this in the first instance are the young people who are now arrested and are going to have criminal records, are the communities in Sandy Row and the village who have to get up today and clean up their community.
“And then the political stability of what is a very precarious position in the minute in the North.”
Asked by Katie Hannon on RTÉ Radio One if Sinn Féin had done enough in the aftermath of growing tensions following a controversial decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Féin politicians for attending a the funeral of senior republican Bobby Storey during Covid-19 restrictions, he replied: “People have got things wrong and I think Michelle’s [O’NEILL]statement at the time made that very clear. But what also then happened was people rightly then called for a PSNI investigation. A report was then forwarded to the Public Prosecution Service. They have made their recommendations and their recommendations are not to proceed with prosecutions.”
He said political leaders, including Sinn Féin, had to ensure they did everything to manage the public health message correctly.
“We need everybody to work together to calm the situation, particularly in terms of how some unionists are using the issue of the protocol in very, very questionable ways politically.” – PA