Police use ice cream music to embarrass teen rioters in Belfast

Quiet gentle music was used some years ago in the Hobart Australia mall or city square where lots of spirited youths gathered. It had a calming effect on their behavoir.

it works, its cheap and its pretty funny. I can see the problem with it. I bet you would a great reaction with so many songs example Y.M.C.A. On another note Nelson your a first grade clown

Perhaps a Large Billboard of Kate and Willie ....

Whatever works.

Obviously, Angela Nelson has NO humor! Also, it worked, didn't it???

I believe that this was a very smart strategy. It worked, nobody was hurt. Perhaps that was not the intention but what a useful tactic.

As long as the sitch was difused and no one got hurt and the kids involved wud prob think twice about doin it again.. whats the prob? Some people are too uptight for no good reason!!! Its Ireland for Gods sake!!! We were reared on Humour!!! Stupid bloody woman!! Know your area and your people b4 goin on record as saying something so monumentally stupid!!!

By doing this, they took the power away from the kids. Perfect move, in my opinion. Any other response would have escalated the situation and resulted in injuries. No one was hurt, maybe their pride...but that doesn't require a hospital trip.

I suppose Nelon think the police should have gotten out of their vehicles, lined up in riot formation and shot the teenagers with rubber bullets and tear gas. It's just that kind of rote thinking that maintains the fearful image of the police state of Ireland when it is obvious that this officer went out on a limb to defuse a potentially deadly situation. The Irish have outlawed guns. Maybe they should outlaw ice cream trucks.

When the Dublin Metropolitan Police in 1916 heard that a poet and his pals had taken up 'armed positions'and were pretending to have captured the City, they should have gone out and clipped their ears and kicked their arses and sent them crying home to their Mammy's wailing that the English won't let them fight for the country,it might not be in the pathetic state it is in today!

7-11 convenience stores, here in the US, were having problems with youth troublemakers congregating outside the stores causing problems. When they started playing classical music, the kids found other places to congregate...I guess if that'd happened in Ireland, officials woulda said it was childish and not the civilized way to deal with the problem...I know, arm the clerks and have them shoot anyone standing around...so stupid...

I guess it's not just american public officials who are incompetent. Why don't they listen to the public they're supposed to serve? If playing offbeat music defuses a situation, what's the problem? Would the officials rather the cops got out and waded in with automatic weapons and batons? If it works, for crying out loud, don't fix it!

It is obvious that some sad-short-sighted-police-officials and perverted-political-prima-donnas would rather have bloodshed than good innovative ideas used to the same effect in keeping the peace. I applaud the officer with the music. Give us his name and address and we will show our appreciation for his imagination and humanity.

Down the toilet is the state of that island. The International Monetary Fund has warned that the Government may have to introduce further budget measures if it is to meet its target of reducing the deficit to 3% of gross domestic product by 2015 He also said that the IMF agreed with the view of Finance Minister Brian Lenihan that there was no way a country whose banks were so dependent on international investors could unilaterally renege on senior bondholders, as the systemic impact of doing so would be too great. The IMF says the threat to other euro zone countries from Ireland's problems is significant, as markets believe other countries face similar vulnerabilities.

I agree with everyone else! Hopefully the Police authority who told off the officer for using his good intelligence sees what all the good citizens below are thinking.