Three officers shot during riots in Belfast

[bemildred]

Source: BBC

Three police officers have been shot during violence in north Belfast on the eve of the annual Twelfth parades.

The officers, one a woman, were injured by a masked man firing a shotgun at North Queen Street. One male officer remains in hospital with an arm wound.

A total of 27 officers were injured during disturbances - 14 in the New Lodge area of north Belfast and 13 at Broadway in west Belfast.

About 200 people threw petrol bombs, stones and bottles at Broadway.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/10599544.stm

[riderinthestorm]

1. The Orange Order parades are a tired remnant of an ugly era

and should have been stopped long ago. They stir up ancient hatreds and keep the flames of separatism alive and well. Every year, they're just a blatantly divisive maneuver that serves no good purpose.

I feel the worst for law enforcement that somehow has to manage the (impossible) situation every single damn year. What a waste.

[Itchinjim]

2. Irish Teabaggers.

Paisley and his crowd are.

[WildEyedLiberal]

3. Yep - it's sad how little of the blame for the violence in NI is put on the Orangemen/loyalists

I'm in no way condoning IRA terrorism, but the Orangemen have more than their share of blood on their hands, and every year they trot out this disgusting display, they ensure that the wounds in Northern Ireland will continue to fester.

[Itchinjim]

4. It's really no different than if the Klan marched through Selma or Memphis every year.

A blatant display of hate attempting to provoke violence, nothing more than that.

[WildEyedLiberal]

6. No, it's no different at all.

But all you hear vis a vis Northern Ireland in the Anglo-American media is OMG IRA TERRORISM OMG IRA OMG TERRORISTS!!!! It comes across as an entirely one-sided conflict - the evil IRA/nationalists vs. innocent British people - for the vast majority of people who have only a media-fed peripheral understanding of the issue.

Again, in no way am I condoning IRA violence against civilians, but that's only a tiny part of the sad and sordid tale in NI.

[murdoch]

7. But it's an old tradition

Aren't these nationalists interfering with good relations not letting these marches through? The Orangemen just beat their drums and sing their old songs like Billy Boys...

We are the Billy Boys
Hullo, Hullo
You'll know us by our noise
We're up to our knees in fenian blood
Surrender or you'll die

Why does Sinn Fein interfere with these good old traditions and interfere with the peace process?

(It is unfortunate that media coverage of this is so skewed that it isn't apparent on the face of it that, yes, I am being sarcastic. Media coverage of NI is often mind boggling.)

[LostinVA]

5. The Orange Parades are disgusting

Maybe they can scare some little Catholic schoolgirls while the Big Brave Orangemen are at it.