56 officers hurt in Belfast riots

[theHandpuppet]

Source: Belfast Telegraph

10 August 2013

Fifty six police officers were injured during loyalist riots in Belfast city centre in a night of chaotic violence that Northern Ireland's Chief Constable has described as mindless anarchy.

Protesters who ran amok through central streets and attacked police with missiles, including scaffolding poles and paving stones ripped up from a main shopping district, have scarred the city's reputation, Matt Baggott said.

The region's top officer issued a challenge to politicians and community leaders to act like "statesmen" in the wake of the disorder and unequivocally condemn those responsible.

The violence erupted in the Royal Avenue area, a usually busy commercial street close to City Hall, as more than a thousand loyalist demonstrators gathered to protest at the republican rally to mark the introduction of internment without trial in Northern Ireland during the Troubles....


Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/56-officers-hurt-in-belfast-riots-29487524.html

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It seems the strife will never end.

[riderinthestorm]

1. Pretty damn sad. Last gasp of the loyalists before the Catholics take over?

Statistically the 35 and under Catholic population in northern Ireland is the majority. Its only a matter of time...

[life long demo]

2. Sorry to hear about the rioting. You are right about it being

only a matter of time when the north of Ireland is again rejoined with the rest of the island. Four provinces, 32 counties, 1 country.

[loli phabay]

3. wonder how the garda will deal with the loyalist paramilitaries if the six counties do join eire

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. One of my customers is visiting there right now.

She has a daughter and grand children living in Belfast.

I hope everything is OK with her and her family.

[fasttense]

5. The introduction of internment without trial in Northern Ireland?

"The only voices we should hear now are those unequivocally condemning the violence and supporting fully the actions of the police and the rule of law."

How is it the Rule Of Law if you can jail somone without trial?

[charlie and algernon]

6. they're remembering an event from the 1970's

From Wiki:

Another was the 1971 introduction of internment without trial (out of over 350 initial detainees, none was a Protestant).[71] Moreover, due to poor intelligence,[72] very few of those interned were actually republican activists, but some went on to become republicans as a result of their experience.[citation needed] This resulted in numerous gun battles between the British army and the Provisional IRA and the Official IRA. Between 1971 and 1975, 1,981 people were detained; 1,874 were Catholic/republican, while 107 were Protestant/loyalist.[73] There were widespread allegations of abuse and even torture of detainees,[74][75] and the "five techniques" used by the police and army for interrogation were ruled to be illegal following a British government inquiry.[76] Nationalists also point to the fatal shootings of 14 unarmed nationalist civil rights demonstrators by the British Army in Derry on 30 January 1972, on what became known as Bloody Sunday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Troubles