Northern Ireland Goes Off The Rails After Political Leaders Are Arrested For Attending Funeral, Bus Highjacked, Set On Fire

The Northern Ireland executive will meet on Thursday morning to be briefed on the ongoing unrest, after a bus was hijacked and set on fire in Belfast during a sixth consecutive night of violence.

The vehicle was set alight at an intersectional area between nationalist and unionist communities, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said. Stones were thrown at police while a press photographer was assaulted during the course of their work on Wednesday evening on the junction of Lanark Way and Shankill Road in West Belfast.

The loyalist gathering at Lanark Way was organized via social media, with Facebook posts shared on other platforms. Dozens of youths dressed in dark clothing gathered after 5 pm, watched by others who appeared to have come for the spectacle. One elderly woman came in a bathrobe.

Since last Friday there have been nightly violence in parts of Northern Ireland, including in Belfast, Derry and parts of county Antrim, fuelled by loyalist anger over a recent decision not to prosecute Sinn Féin leaders over attendance at a mass funeral.

The Democratic Unionist party has expressed fury over the decision, with Foster, its leader, saying it reflects one rule for Sinn Féin and another for ordinary voters who have lost loved ones during the pandemic and have been unable to attend funerals.