Rioters attack Northern Irish police on Orange parade day

By Anne Cadwallader

BELFAST (Reuters) - Nationalist rioters in Northern Ireland attacked police with bricks, bottles and other missiles in several places on Monday, wounding at least seven officers on a day of parades by the Orange Order, police said.

Police responded to the rioting by hundreds of nationalist youths in the mainly Roman Catholic Ardoyne area of North Belfast with water cannon and plastic bullets. At least one gunshot was fired at police.

At least one teenager was taken to hospital from the scene, which was on the route of a large parade by the Orange Order, made up of Protestants who want Northern Ireland to remain a British province.

The nationalists tried to attack the Orange march as it passed through the area but police managed to separate the two groups, a Reuters reporter at the scene said.

Disturbances continued at night, and police said they seized a firearm children had been playing with in North Belfast.

The marchers, who wear orange sashes and bowler hats to commemorate a 17th century victory of Protestants over Catholics, cause tension each year with the Catholic minority, many of whom would like to see a united Ireland.

Northern Ireland has enjoyed relative peace since a 1998 deal ended the IRA's armed campaign to end British rule of the province.

SPLINTER GROUPS CAUSE RIOTS