Police and homes attacked ahead of Orange marches

Police were attacked and property damaged near loyalist bonfires in Belfast ahead of Orange Order parades across Northern Ireland later today.

Homes were also petrol-bombed in the north of the city where security forces have mounted a major security operation in the republican Ardoyne district.

Fire crews had to respond to more than 60 call-outs to deal with Eleventh Night blazes which threatened to get out of control.

The heat from one fractured a gas pipeline, causing a fire to sweep through a three-storey commercial development in the Cregagh area of east Belfast. Thirty homes had to be evacuated because of the alert.

With more than 100,000 Orangemen taking part in a series of demonstrations to mark the anniversary of the Battle of the Boyne, Chief Constable Hugh Orde appealed for calm on the streets, particularly in Belfast where republicans have threatened to protest against one of the parades passing the flashpoint Ardoyne district.

Up to 40 people took part in a sit-down protest in Ardoyne this morning to demonstrate against the Orange march.

One man chained himself to a set of traffic lights.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams was among the crowd.

In one of the worst overnight incidents, two policemen were injured when they went to the assistance of a man who was being attacked near a bonfire in the Woodstock area. One officer also had his gun and radio stolen.

In Newcastle, Co Down, an Orange archway was destroyed in an arson attack and a nearby Orange hall slightly damaged.

The Chief Constable has hundreds of officers on stand-by in the event of any trouble at Ardoyne, not far from Ainsworth Avenue where a number of homes were petrol- bombed.

He said: “We find ourselves in the middle and will do everything to maintain law and order. We just hope common sense will prevail.”