Northern Ireland Riots.

It turns out that last night's (21/6/11) rioting in the Newtownards road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland escalated as the night went on. Between approx 19:00 and 22:00 it was limited to Protestant/Loyalist rioters fighting with the police as they attempted to attack a Catholic/Republican community on the other side of the road. Between approx 22:00 and 01:00 residents in the Catholic/Republican neighbourhood started to fight back after coming under attack from bricks, petrol bombs and fireworks for several hours. At the peak of the violence (around 00:00) shots were fired from a handgun at a group of press photographers wounding one in the leg.

Although this is slightly more violence then has been seen in recent years it's still pretty normal for Belfast in June. So today (22/6/11) local shops are open, the roads are clear and public transport is operating normally. There are still worries though that tensions could rise again during the day leading to a third night of violence. The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) seem to be trying their hardest to make sure that there is. This morning they announced that the will be holding talks with the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) a Protestant/Loyalist paramilitary group who are being widely blamed for orchestrating the violence. This afternoon the PSNI went on to make a statement blaming the shooting incident on Catholic/Republican paramilitaries which contradicts earlier reports.