Belfast Erupts – Irish Families Besieged By British Unionist Mobs Again

East Belfast’s Nationalist enclave of the Short Strand has come under attack again from British Unionist mobs. Two weeks ago Unionist gangs several hundred strong were led by UVF terrorists in a series of assaults against the Nationalist minority in the area, which left three wounded by gunfire, dozens injured and widescale damage to local homes and businesses.

Now, following the ‘mini-Twelfth’ parade in the city by the Orange Order, the British and Protestant fundamentalist organisation, Irish families find themselves under siege again. The Guardian reports:

‘Homes in the Catholic Short Strand district were attacked shortly before 11pm, just a few hours after an Orange Order parade passed by the area.

Riot police had to be moved back into the interface between the Short Strand and nearby loyalist districts following an incursion into Mount Pottinger Road by more than a dozen loyalists.

The situation had been under control in part due to the presence of former IRA and Sinn Féin figures who, along with the police, had attempted to keep the peace on the sectarian fault-line.

But the trouble escalated later when a group of young loyalists beat up a local man on Mountpottinger Road and attacked a number of houses in the Short Strand.’

The Daily Mail states that:

‘Police were this morning trying to regain order in the streets of Belfast after rioting broke out.

Plastic bullets and water cannon were used by officers to disperse crowds in Castlereagh Street and Albertbridge Road, east Belfast.’