SF and Loyalist Commission hold talks on Belfast violence

Sinn Fein and the Loyalist Commission held an hour of talks on Tuesday in an effort to reduce sectarian tension in Belfast, it emerged today.

A leading member of Sinn Fein is believed to have met with the chairman of the commission, Presbyterian Minister Mervyn Gibson. The meeting was arranged to find a way to end ongoing street violence and rioting in Belfast and the two sides apparently agreed to meet again in the future.

The Loyalist Commission includes community leaders, unionist politicians and churchmen, as well as representatives from loyalist paramilitary groups, who have been largely blamed for stoking up sectarianism at interface areas in Belfast.