BELFAST, Northern Ireland, July 14 (UPI) -- Northern Ireland officials were cleaning up Tuesday after a night of sectarian rioting in which police say 21 officers were injured.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said nine of the officers were hurt in north Belfast's Ardoyne neighborhood, where a masked youth at one point fired a handgun at officers, The Times of London reported, adding that rioters also hurled firebombs, bricks and bottles.
The disturbances across Northern Ireland involved around 200 young people on the biggest day of Northern Ireland's marching season. Republican extremist protesters reportedly were lying in wait to ambush Orangemen returning to their north Belfast homes after taking part in a parade in the city center.
A senior Sinn Fein politician blamed the splinter group the Real IRA for provoking violence, telling The Times, "The Real IRA or whatever they may call themselves and some other splinter organizations sent people over here with the sole aim to cause riots, to bring this further down into sectarianism."
"It was as if people had been bussed into the area for this very purpose and that this was being very much orchestrated," added Father Gary Donegan, an Ardoyne priest.
