The PSNI suspects that violent protests across Northern Ireland over opposition to the introduction of the Northern Ireland protocol may intensify over the weekend.
The force believes that a number of loyalist demonstrations and parades involving masked men are being planned for the coming days.
Anonymous social media accounts yesterday began posting the times and locations where people wishing to demonstrate should gather in the coming days to “protect Ulster”.
Intelligence available to the security services suggests that the riots are being driven by youths and political activists though there are suspicions of paramilitary involvement. Some of the riots, which involve very young teenagers, have taken place in areas where organised crime gangs with connections to loyalist paramilitaries operate.
Yesterday, Jonathan Roberts, a PSNI assistant chief constable, said there was a level of planning around the protests. Roberts said the involvement of paramilitary groups was one line of investigation but noted that many of those involved were not paramilitaries.
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“There were children who took part in it and other adults. I know that what took place does not represent the wider community either on the Springfield Road or on the Shankill Road. Whether or not paramilitary groups were involved remains an active line of investigation. There will be a full and thorough investigation into the circumstances,” he said.
He added: “We do believe there was a level of pre-planning. You don’t come by such volumes of petrol bombs, missiles and fireworks without pre-planning.”
Violent protests are now taking place on a nightly basis across Northern Ireland, including Belfast, Ballymena and Derry. Wednesday night’s violence was regarded as a significant development in what many security analysts regard as a growing crisis, which has the potential to spread or become more protracted. A bus was petrol bombed whilst there were violent clashes at a peace-line that links the Shankill Road with the Springfield Road in west Belfast.
A number of PSNI officers were injured in the disturbances where rioters threw petrol bombs at police officers as they tried to keep the two sides apart. Senior republican and loyalist paramilitaries were seen in the immediate vicinity of the clashes.
Boris Johnston, the UK prime minister, and Micheál Martin, the taoiseach, yesterday condemned the violence and urged political leaders to do more. Arlene Foster and Michelle O’Neill, the region’s first and deputy first minister, also issued a joint statement urging those involved to stop. Their calls were echoed by politicians on both sides of the border.
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There are growing concerns the violence could spread to other towns across Northern Ireland, possibly with the tacit support of paramilitaries.
“The Ulster Defence Association, Ulster Volunteer Force and the Red Hand Commando are all facing internal issues from more radical elements demanding action. Whilst these groups may not be supportive of the violence, some of their members are. The situation may worsen as no one is discussing the issues surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol,” one political source said.
The three groups withdrew their support for the Good Friday agreement last month over the protocol, which imposes trade restrictions on goods entering Northern Ireland.
“There’s a combination of factors leading to this. There’s internal power struggles in the UDA. These people want to be the dominant voice in North Antrim and parts of Belfast. This is an opportunity for them to show muscle. They want leadership positions,” said Peter Shirlow, an expert on loyalism at the University of Liverpool.
“There are also groups that are very supportive of the peace process but are now saying why should we bother. Loyalists have warned that things were going in a certain direction. They point to one set of rules for them as happened with the Bobby Storey funeral. At this stage many are saying the governments can either have the Good Friday agreement or the protocol, and you can’t have both,” he said.
