BELFAST, Northern Ireland, May 23 (UPI) -- A senior Northern Ireland police officer has appealed for calm in the wake of sectarian clashes in Belfast.
Police Superintendent Gary White urged factions not to return to sectarian violence, the BBC reported Monday.
"The community of north Belfast do not want to return to the dark days of the past," he said.
More than 200 people rioted in the Ardoyne area of North Belfast Sunday afternoon after the Glasgow Rangers unexpectedly snatched the soccer title from favorites Celtic in the Scottish Premier League.
Police were pelted with stones, bottles and other missiles. Two water cannons were deployed and 18 officers were injured.
Democratic Unionist Assembly Member Nelson McCausland claimed nationalists attacked a loyalist home, damaging an already fortified window. Clashes also occurred in sectarian flashpoints elsewhere in Belfast, though no officers were injured in those disturbances.
