Northern Ireland July 12 riots already break out - VIDEO

citizen69! to equate the LOL with freemasonary is incredulous the masons do not proscribe membership to catholics or protestants who are married to catholics or the children of "mixed marriages".Secondly the BNP have sent emissaries to the north of Ireland and have had discussions with the said groups,it's no secret, I am suprised you have not read of such meetings.

@Anto: you're right. I live close by this area and it terrorizes residents, especially senior citizens . Rioters tear up peoples gardens for rocks & concrete to throw. You have to keep a close eye on your car unless people try to take it to use as a road block. A few days back 15 cars were burned out in a protestant area by loyalists during a riot. The people who worked hard for those cars will get a fraction of their value from the insurance company and their premiums will sore on renewal. It is the same story today in Republican areas. Rioters are not fighting for their community as they like to portray, they are destroying it, and doing it for very selfish reasons. the Politicians have strong words when 'the other' community are violent but make excuses when the violence is in their own community. Most ordinary people are disgusted by these louts...but still many people blame the other side instead of looking at the problem from their own community.

Were the annual rioting to take place in middle class neighbourhoods,from where its orchestrated.it would cease to be an annual event.Exactly how fu*ked in the head do you have to be to tear up your own street and burn peoples cars and property?

I'm not a big fan of the orange order but these allegations that they are the same as the KKK are way off the mark. They are a protestant fraternity more akin to freemasonary. They do not think they are superior to catholics, they do not want to remove catholics from Northern Ireland, They are not a violent organisation that kills people. In fact during the troubles 10% of the total of those murdered were orangemen. Of the 2000 plus orange parades per year there are only a handful of four or five that are controversial. These few parades attract the rioting thugs from both sides out onto the street for recreational violence. It's not political, it's set up by a few extremist paramilitaries on either side (depending on who happens to be rioting that night) and is almost exclusively teenage boys from working class areas without jobs, prospects or regards for community. They basically have nothing better to do and it provides them with some excitement and camaraderie for a few evenings. No other police force in the world would stand back so passively and let them get on with it like they do here in NI. The Orange Order are not responsible for the violence but their parades are used as an excuse for it. @Seanmelbourne: I hope you are not referring to me with your 'voices of reason' comment. I totally condemned the loyalist violence a few weeks ago on this very message board just as i am now condemning the republican violence now. I condemn violence from any source, unlike some. On your comment about UVF aligning themselves with the BNP. I have seen no evidence of it. The UVF have their own political party, the mildly socialist PUP. But even if it is true, that has absolutely zero do do with the Orange Order. I agree that the O.O. need to act more responsibly considering the consequences of the Ardoyne parade each year but to soley blame the Order for all the violence during the summer is complete nonsense.

This happens every year on the 12th its just not publicised any more cause they try to say it is all fixed!!

Have wanted to visit "the ol' sod" all my life but my husband said it was too dangerous. He finally gives in and we're off this summer and it's "The Troubles" all over again. It's scary to go into a war zone. I agree, this should be outlawed but whose going to tell Irishmen what to do? It's got to be the Irish's idea, not smelling of Britain or any one else. But, please, get on with it!! Isn't six centuries enough? The economy can't wait.

It's time these marches were outlawed. We need to look to the future and not the past. Irishmen are Irishmen and should not be defined by an orange sash.

Your right sirpeter the UVf,UDA have aligned themselves with the BNP making the analogy with the KKK not far off the mark.By the way where were those so called "voices of reason" we are reading below, when orange mobs attacked a nationalist enclave a few weeks ago.Be carefull when taking the high moral ground there's a slippery slope on the other side.

I'm sick to death of these loyalist & republican rioters! It's time the police were allowed to do their job and take these thugs off the streets. These rioters destroy their own streets, burn their neighbors cars, terrorize residents in their own community. The decent people of Northern Ireland are completely fed up. We are held to ransom ever year while extremists from both side demand THEIR rights while attacking other peoples rights. With rights come responsibilities and they must be made to take responsibility for their own actions. It's the same areas every time. Whether the thugs be waving Union Jacks or Irish Tricolors, they're all the same. :-(

michaelidaho.It is stupidity.The question is why are the Orange parades NOT confined to their own areas?.Why do Orangemen insist on marching and antagonizing their own Nationalist neighbours?Why allow it when it only brings every scumbag from both sides out into the streets to riot.

crownsnest: Because it is all they have. Sad, wehn you stop and think about it. To make it nice the Orangemen now cloak it as their culture. That being said teh other side should nto be out rioting and causing mayhem either.

Just what Northern Ireland needs is STUPID, IRRESPONSIBLE people rioting and destroying property. How dumb can they get ??

Just plain stupidity. Those republican youths need a good clean kick up the arse – just like the Orangemen that demand to march through Nationalist areas instead of being re-routed.

Does anyone doubt for a minute that the same kind of violent rioting would occur in many US cities if the KKK demanded their "right" to march through African-American neighborhoods?

It looks like there is not much of a goal here. However, this should keep out tourists thereby suppressing economic recovery.