News

Third night of attacks on Short Strand homes

HOMES in the Short Strand area of east Belfast have come under attack with petrol bombs for a third night in a row.

Tensions have been high at the interface between the nationalist Short Strand and loyalist Cluan Place area.

On Monday night missiles and petrol bombs were again thrown over the peace wall and into Bryson Street.

No-one was injured in the attack.

A similar attack at the weekend resulted in a four-year-old girl narrowly escaping injury when a petrol bomb landed in the garden she was playing in.

Sinn Fein councillor Niall O Donnghaile said people in the area are angry that to date "not a single arrest has been made".

"After three months of failing this community during the flag protests, the PSNI must be seen to act to deal with those hell bent on attacking family homes," he said.

"All residents living across both sides of the interface have to be able to live in peace in their own homes.

"Once again I am calling on the political leadership of unionism and loyalism to state clearly that these attacks must stop immediately."

Alliance Party councillor Maire Hendron said it was "unsettling that some still felt the need to resort to these violent measures, rather that engaging across the community to find a lasting peaceful solution".

"We cannot allow those opposed to a shared future and a better Northern Ireland to dictate how we live within our communities," she said.

"It is incidents like these that deflect attention away from the good community work across the area."

n ATTACK: A house in the Short Strand area of east Belfast damaged by petrol bombs

zPICTURE: Pacemaker