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Even cars were set alight in the conflict

Civil unrest led to full blown rioting this morning as the police began to prepare the areas for the Orange Order who march through the predominately Catholic areas of the capital.

Reports suggest that disgruntled protestors and marchers struck each other and caused damage to buildings through the use of makeshift petrol bombs. So far, there seem to be 27 officers injured, 3 of whom were shot by a masked man.

The riots began in the early hours of this morning, in the Broadway and the New Lodge areas of Belfast, when around 200 nationalist sympathizers began bombarding the officers with bottles and stones.

July the 12th commemorates Willaim of Oranges victory over the Catholic armies of King James back in 1690 and is celebrated by the Protestant population of Northern Ireland to this day, by marching through Catholic districts and has, for the most part been accepted by Catholic citizens over the last couple of years, however some feel that the marches are an offensive gesture, aimed at the Catholic community and its easy to see why. This choice of celebration is what often leads to conflict, so the issue seems to come down to a battle between tradition against compassion.

Should Protestants find a less direct method to celebrate their old victory for the sake of safety? Or should the Catholics just accept it?

Posted Monday July 12^th 2010
By Jordan Cawley