Three police officers shot in Northern Ireland
Updated on 12 July 2010
Criminal elements working with dissident republicans may have been behind last night's Belfast violence, in which 27 police officers were hurt, Northern Ireland commentator Eamonn Mallie tells Channel 4 News.
The three police officers were shot and wounded by shotgun pellets when nationalists attacked police during the traditional Protestant "11th night" celebrations, which were taking place across Belfast last night. Their injuries are not believed to be serious.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) confirmed to Channel 4 News that a total of 27 police officers were injured in all during the disorder in the north and west of Belfast.
The PSNI said 13 officers were injured in the Broadway area, south west of Belfast, and 14 officers were injured in the North Queen Street area, north of the city centre, including the three officers who received gunshot wounds.
The remaining 24 officers injured suffered wounds to various limbs from bottles and stones being thrown. None of the injuries is thought to be life-threatening.
Link between criminal elements and dissident republicans?
There's a criminal element. There’s a belief that dissident republicans are trying to harness those people to get an anchor in the community, Eamonn Mallie, a commentator on Northern Ireland affairs, told Channel 4 News.
Local Sinn Fein councillors argue that there's a link between the criminal element in the community and dissidents – they have a commonality of purpose to attack the police.
They say there are gangs moving around from one area to another, engaging in illegal activity, and that a lot of the people causing trouble in places like Broadway are not from the area. And there is a genuine fear that some of these roving gangs might move up to Ardoyne this evening to try to ferment problems.
The police believe it's the goal of dissidents to kill a large number of police officers in one incident. In the last 48 hours five dissident republicans using three cars have been arrested and explosives found in one of the vehicles. In Northern Ireland there was a culvert bomb found in south Armagh. That's the first culvert bomb the dissidents have used. Culvert bombs were a classic early tactic of the Provisional IRA.
This is activity by orchestrated by dissident republicans. They've left a bomb outside the Newry courthouse, and at Policing Board headquarters in Belfast, there was the shooting of two soldiers early last year in Massereene, and they put a bomb underneath a police officer's car in Antrim and blew his leg away.
So there's a variation in activities, and the police are genuinely becoming very concerned about the modus operandi and the escalation of dissident violence.
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More on recent attacks in Northern Ireland from Channel 4 News
- Dissidents blamed for NI car bomb attack
- 'Parades main obstacle to NI deal'
- Appeal for Massereene attack information
- Nine hurt in Ardoyne violence
Rioters attack police
Police attended the two locations last night at 11.45pm, as around 200 nationalist rioters attacked police with missiles, stones, bottles and petrol bombs.
Police returned fire with baton rounds, and deployed a water cannon shortly after the violence broke out to deal with the crowds.
Chief superintendent Mark Hamilton condemned the disorder ant the attacks on officers. He said: "These officers were doing their jobs, were policing their local community, and have been attacked whilst doing so."
"This is utterly wrong and I condemn it in the strongest possible terms.
"We reponsded to this disorder immediatley, and officers put themselves in danger in order to restore normal and calm to the area for the residents who live there. No-one wants a return to this type of behaviour.
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"I am very grateful to those in the community who took personal risk to try and prevent disorder and help the police in very difficult circumstances.
"We have appealed for calm in the run-up to 12 July and we continue to do so.
"We would appeal to anyone with influence in the community to exert it to ensure that the next few days pass off without incident."
Parades
The night of disorder came amid fears of trouble during today's 12 July commemorations.
Police presence will be high at potential flashpoint areas as thousands of Orangemen parade to mark the annual Protestant festival.
Last year nine police officers were left injured, when violence broke out during the Orange parades.
The PSNI confirmed to Channel 4 News: "Today's parades will be policed appropriately and proportionately."
Timeline: violence in Northern Ireland since 2009
7 March 2009
Two British army soldiers shot dead and two seriously injured during gun attack at Massereene barracks, County Antrim. The Real IRA claims responsibility.
9 March 2009
Police officer shot dead in Craigavon, County Armagh. Continuity IRA claims responsibility.
27 June 2009
Ulster Defence Association announces it has started to disarm its arsenal. UVF Red Hand Command says its armed are now "irreversibly beyond use".
11 October 2009
Irish National Liberation Army announces an end to its 30-year campaign of republican violence.
6 January 2010
UDA announces the decommissioning of all weapons.
8 January 2010
Officer from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) is critically injured and loses one of his legs after a car booby trap bomb in Antrim.
22 February 2010
Dissident republicans blamed for car bomb attack at a court in Newry, County Down.
12 April 2010
Republican dissidents blamed for car bomb explosion outside the MI5 building in Belfast.
11 July 2010
27 police officers hurt during ahead of the Protestant 12 July marches.
One of Northern Ireland's most senior operational police officers has appealed to anybody involved in taking part in or protesting against the sensitive parades this week to exercise restraint and responsibility to ensure a peaceful outcome.
Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay says he has been encouraged by the commitment and leadership shown by community representatives following the disorder at Broadway last weekend.
He said: "The reality is that there are more than 600 parades taking place right across Northern Ireland on the 12th, with more than 75,000 participants taking part.
"The vast majority pass off very peacefully with minimal policing. However, there are a small number of parades which are sensitive.
"Unfortunately, until long-term solutions are found, there is always the potential for disorder and damage to relationships.
"Ultimately, it is the community that bears the brunt of any disorder – local people’s lives are put at risk, their homes and businesses damaged and their lives are turned upside down.
"That is why it is so important that all who have influence in their community make their voice heard during times of heightened tension so that disruption to the community can be kept to a minimum."
ACC Finlay said the PSNI will "facilitate the right of people to parade, lawfully and peacefully" and for people to protest "lawfully and peacefully".
He pledged that the police would continue to take a robust approach against alcohol at the parades and said he looked forward to the day when major policing operations could be scaled back further to make valuable resources available to the prime concerns of tackling crime and addressing community concerns.
Last week the Grand Orange Lodge rejected proposals by Sinn Fein and the DUP that would have led to the Parades Commission being disbanded, to be replaced by two bodies.
The first body would have a mediation role in relation to all parades, while the second would adjudicate on contentious parades if no agreement could be reached by the first body.
