Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Clashes between Catholics and republicans in Belfast

The clashes between Catholics and caused dozens of police injured in Belfast on the occasion of the march Orange, which celebrates the victory of Protestant King William III over Catholic James II at the Battle of Boyne in 1690. A police statement said that 22 officers were injured in Catholic Ardoyne district, but only four are hospitalized for minor injuries.

Hundreds of people participated in the traditional parade, which many Catholics regard as a provocation. Of these, 200 have responded with violence and attacked security forces with bottles, stones and Molotov cocktails. The officers have responded to aggression with rubber bullets and water cannons.


The unrest has also starred in the parade of other cities, including Londonderry, Newry, Antrim and Armagh, and the area east of the capital. The 1998 peace agreement for the creation of a coalition government between Catholics and Protestants has ended three decades of violence between loyalist Protestant and loyal to the British Crown, and Irish nationalists, mostly Catholics.

The balance of police officers injured in clashes yesterday to 24, compared with 48 recorded as part of the Orangemen marches last year.

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