Riots erupt in Northern Belfast

2002-04-19 15:21

Belfast - Rioting between rival sectarian groups erupted in north Belfast late on Thursday, as around 200 hardline Catholics and Protestants hurled petrol bombs, fireworks and stones at each other, police said.

The sporadic unrest, which police said caused no injuries, occurred close to the Holy Cross Primary School in the Ardoyne area, scene of violent clashes last year as young Catholic girls walked to and from class.

In the latest disturbances to hit Northern Ireland, armoured police vehicles and troops in full riot gear formed barriers to separate rival factions drawing closer.

Bomb disposal experts were also called to defuse a home-made grenade thrown at the intersection of the Catholic area of Ardoyne and the Protestant Glenbryn district.

Meanwhile, a tank of domestic heating fuel exploded after being set on fire, though police swiftly extinguished the blaze.

Nationalists 'want calm'

Such scenes have become an almost nightly occurrence on the city's northern streets over the past 18 months.

As the area returned to calm around 22:00, Garry Kelly, a leading member of Sinn Fein, the Irish Republican Army's political wing, insisted that nationalists wanted nothing but calm.

"This is where Holy Cross school is, they don't want all this. They want to keep it calm so the kids can go to school quietly in the morning," he said.

Northern Ireland's mainly Protestant loyalists want to maintain British rule over Northern Ireland, while Catholic nationalists want Ireland's reunification. - Sapa-AFP

- SAPA