Sinn Féin accuses loyalists of attacking ‘interface workers’

Sinn Féin has accused loyalists in Belfast of attacking two "interface workers" who were trying to prevent violence in the west of the city last night.

Party spokesman Tom Hartley claimed the two men tried to prevent around 50 loyalists from entering a tense area when they were punched and kicked by the gang.

Loyalists in west Belfast have been engaged in serious street violence in recent days and also blocked a road in the area yesterday to protest at the re-routing of an Orange Order parade.