Belfast has experienced a second night of violent disorder as rioters threw petrol bombs and missiles at police.
At least one police vehicle was burned and several blazes lit in the Sandy Row and Donegall Road areas of south Belfast.
It follows a similar night of chaos on Saturday, when several hundred anti-immigration protesters threw fireworks as they marched through the city.
Deputy District Judge Liam McStay in Belfast Magistrates’ Court refused bail for two men who had participated in the unrest, which saw a violent mob trash businesses and set a supermarket on fire.
The police operation was accelerated as anti-racist protesters and anti-Islam, anti-asylum seeker rioters continued to clash.
Belfast is one of several UK cities to see violence and chaos on its streets in recent days.
Far-right protests broke out after misinformation on social media sparked anger over a stabbing at a children’s dance class in Southport that killed three girls and wounded 10 people.
While the suspect arrested was born in the UK and not a Muslim, false rumours spread online that the suspect was a Muslim asylum-seeker, leading to attacks on hotels and facilities housing asylum seekers as well as Mosques.
The National Police Chiefs’ Council said more than 375 people have been arrested in the disorder so far across multiple cities, with more expected to be apprehended in the coming days.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced a “standing army” of specialist police would be deployed to deal with the rioting and that the justice system will be fully resourced to handle the huge number of arrests.
