Road set alight as protesters clash with police in fresh Northern Ireland unrest
Fresh disturbances broke out in Northern Ireland on Monday, a week after days on end of violent clashes.
Furniture was set on fire in West Belfast’s Shankill Road this evening, close to where a bus was set alight earlier this month.
Police were monitoring a crowd gathered across Lanark Way and the Shankill Road on the loyalist side of the nearby peace line. Objects could be seen being thrown at police vehicles.
Meanwhile, a loyalist protest was also taking place in Newtownards, County Down, where people were pictured holding an anti-Northern Ireland Protocol banner.
It comes after a break of around a week, following a number of consecutive days where violence broke out following loyalist protests across the British-controlled region.
The worst of the trouble came on both sides of the peace wall gates at Lanark Way on Wednesday, April 7, and Thursday, April 8, when police used plastic bullets and water cannon.
Protests were temporarily paused following the death of Prince Philip.
Loyalist anger at the protocol has been cited as one of the main factors behind the violence that erupted earlier this month.
Another was the decision not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein members for Covid-19 breaches after they attended a mass republican funeral during the pandemic.
There are also more long-standing concerns held by some loyalists that they have missed out on the gains of the peace process, particularly on jobs, investment and housing.
Nationalists reject the contentions and insist their communities experience just as many problems with poverty.
The Loyalist Communities Council held a small demonstration earlier on Monday outside Irish government offices in Belfast.
Loyalists said they were resuming demonstrations action against post-Brexit trading arrangements that have created new barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
They claim the Northern Ireland Protocol has undermined the region’s place within the Union.
Voices from across the political spectrum in Ireland and the UK have condemned the violence.
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