Riot clear-up under way

A clean-up operation got under way on Tuesday

A clear-up operation is under way after several hours of rioting in north Belfast which left 35 soldiers and police officers injured.

The security forces came under attack from nationalist youths in the Ardoyne area as trouble flared after a contentious Protestant Orange parade on Monday.

Both nationalist and unionist politicians have criticised the way in which the parade was handled.

Amid a huge police and Army presence, members of the Ballysillan Orange lodge passed by the Ardoyne area on Monday evening as nationalists protested.

The parade had been restricted by the Northern Ireland Parades Commission which ruled that only lodge members and marshals could take part in the parade back to Ballysillan as it passed the Ardoyne shops.

The police said they acted in accordance with the ruling as the parade's supporters were only allowed up the road after the march had passed.

After the parade passed, Sinn Fein's Gerry Kelly appealed for calm as nationalist youths attacked security forces in the area.

The security forces came under attack in the Ardoyne area

A PSNI spokesman said 25 police officers were slightly injured, however it is understood none of them was hospitalised.

An Army spokesman said 10 military personnel were injured, but were mostly treated for cuts and bruises.

Thousands of Orangemen took part in the annual Twelfth of July celebrations throughout Northern Ireland, on the biggest day in the Protestant marching calendar.

The Orangemen had been demonstrating at 19 venues across the province to commemorate Prince William of Orange's 1690 Battle of the Boyne victory over Catholic King James II.

'Consider its position'

DUP North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds said the future of the Parades Commission was now an issue for the talks in September aimed at restoring devolution.

He said the Parades Commission had to accept "a great deal of blame" for the violence.

"Its inept handling, purporting to ban supporters when a legal challenge showed it had no jurisdiction to do so added immensely to the difficulties faced by people on the ground working to achieve peace and quiet," he said.

We had tried to find a compromise so that neither party could feel as though they had been disadvantaged and unfortunately we had to bring the supporters up in the way in which we did Superintendent David Boultwood PSNI

Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern said the events in Ardoyne were "deeply regrettable and disturbing".

"I know that there are widespread concerns about the handling of this march, and specifically that those not directly involved in the march were allowed to proceed through the Ardoyne," he said.

"It is now important to establish precisely what happened, and to see what lessons can be learned. We will be receiving a full report from officials who were on the ground last night, and we will be discussing these issues with the British side."

Gerry Kelly criticised the authorities' handling of the contentious parade.

"The Parades Commission is now defunct because when it makes a decision, the PSNI does whatever it wants to do anyway," he said.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan criticised the Parades Commission for not being more specific on its ruling regarding the parade's supporters and the police for their handling of the situation.

He said: "There are bigger issues at stake than whether or not the SDLP take a particular attitude in relation to policing overall - based on what we believe was a mismanaged situation yesterday."

'Threw stones'

Superintendent David Boultwood said there had been negotiations "right up until the very last moment".

"We had tried to find a compromise so that neither party could feel as though they had been disadvantaged and unfortunately we had to bring the supporters up in the way in which we did," he said.

In County Armagh, a Royal Black Preceptory parade which had restrictions placed on it by the Parades Commission, passed off peacefully.

The marchers in Lurgan, who were travelling to a demonstration in Bangor, had wanted to parade to the town's railway station on Tuesday, but were prevented from doing so by the Commission's ruling.

Police said as their train later passed the mainly nationalist Kilwilkee estate, a small group of youths threw seven petrol bombs, paint and stones. There were no reports of injuries.

Superintendent Alan McCrum said the attack happened "despite the extent of the policing operation and the best efforts of everyone, including responsible people within the nationalist community".

Elsewhere, DUP assembly member William Hay said four youths threw stones at a bus he was travelling on as it returned from a parade in Greysteel, County Londonderry on Monday evening.

In Antrim town, a bus carrying a flute band was attacked by about 12 youths throwing stones.

And two men were arrested after disturbances in Antrim early on Tuesday morning.

A number of petrol bombs were found close to the entrance to the Rathenraw estate shortly before 0100 BST.

The police said they were attacked with petrol bombs a short time earlier at Stiles Way.

In Londonderry, two men were arrested after the police were attacked with petrol bombs in the Fahan Street area on Monday evening.