Rioting broke out on the streets of Belfast for several hours overnight after a Protestant march through the city.
Six police officers were injured after trouble flared following yesterday’s “mini Twelfth” parade in the Northern Ireland capital.
Police vehicles were damaged and missiles were targeted at officers trying to quell the “significant disorder” which occurred in the Castlereagh Street and Albertbridge Road areas of the city.
Police officers used rubber bullets and a water cannon to try and disperse the crowds, finally bringing calm during the early hours of this morning.
Seven people were arrested for disorderly behaviour during the trouble. The six police officers were hurt by blocks of masonry thrown by youths during the disturbance, but none of their injuries were life threatening.
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A police spokesperson said officers were working with community leaders and advising members of the public “to avoid the area as they work to restore calm”.
The rioting comes two weeks after Northern Ireland saw some of its worst sectarian violence in years, focused on a Catholic enclave in east Belfast.
A photographer, employed by the Press Association, was shot in the leg and rioters threw petrol bombs and other missiles at police, who responded by firing water cannons, during two nights of riots involving hundreds of people.
The 1998 peace accords largely ended the cycle of sectarian bombings and shootings in the province, part of the United Kingdom, and paved the way for a devolved, power-sharing Northern Irish Assembly.
However, as before, there are often clashes around the July Protestant marching season, when the light summer evenings are at their longest.