UK - Petrol bombs, fireworks greet police in Day 39 of Belfast union flag protests

Petrol bombs have been thrown at police in Rathcoole, County Antrim.

Police also came under attack from fireworks and rocks as union flag protests again caused traffic disruption in Northern Ireland.

A number of roads have been closed and a bus has been set alight.

The protests began in some areas at 15:00 GMT and have taken place across Counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Londonderry.

There have been 39 days of protests over Belfast City Council's decision to fly the flag on designated days only.
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(Reuters) - Four police officers were injured during clashes between pro-British and Irish nationalist youths in Belfast on Saturday following another protest against the decision to remove the British flag from city hall.

Nationalists threw golf balls and stones at a crowd walking home from a rally in the city centre demanding for the return of the flag. Police used water cannon and at least one plastic bullet round in a bid to restore calm.

The unrest over the past five weeks has been some of the most sustained in the British-ruled province since a 1998 peace deal ended 30 years of conflict between Catholic Irish nationalists seeking union with Ireland and Protestant loyalists determined to remain part of the United Kingdom.
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29 Belfast cops hurt in Catholic-Protestant clash

DUBLIN (AP) — Northern Ireland police fought day-and-night street battles with Protestant militants Saturday as a protest march to Belfast City Hall degenerated into riots when many marchers returned home to the Protestant east side.

The Protestants, who have blocked streets daily since Catholics on the council decided Dec. 3 to curtail the flying of the British flag, have frequently clashed with police in hopes of forcing politicians to overturn the decision.
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STANDREID said:

Does Northern Ireland have its own flag now? All the other British states do but, the last time I checked, N.I. didn't. What are they flying when they are not flying the Union flag?

England's flag is the Flag of St. George for instance. The Union flag is the flag of the entire U.K. as I understand it. Correct me if I'm wrong.:waitasec:

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Senior politicians from Belfast, Dublin and London are to meet this week to discuss how to quell the increasingly-violent Union flag protests in Northern Ireland.
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The demonstrations against Belfast City Council’s decision to hoist the Union flag from the City Hall only on designated days, like royal birthdays, have brought many parts of Northern Ireland to a standstill.
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A Unionist forum chaired by DUP leader Peter Robinson and UUP leader Mike Nesbitt met last week to discuss ways of empowering Loyalist working class communities.

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