Large civil disorder broke out in north

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

on Sunday 11 November 2001. The trouble started when republicans clashed with

loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

during a

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

service. Up to 400 Protestants and Catholics were involved in rioting in the afternoon on North Queen Street. A 16-year-old Protestant teenager, Glen Hugh Branagh from Duncairn Gardens, was killed when a

pipe bomb A pipe bomb is an improvised explosive device which uses a tightly sealed section of pipe (material), pipe filled with an explosive material. The containment provided by the pipe means that simple Explosive material#Low explosives, low explosi ...

in his hand exploded prematurely. The

Police Service of Northern Ireland The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI; ga, Seirbhís Póilíneachta Thuaisceart Éireann; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ') is the police, police force that serves Northern Ireland. It is the successor to the Royal Ulster Constabu ...

(PSNI) believe that the bomb was intended at the riot police. Loyalists claimed it was thrown by republicans and he was merely throwing it away, a claim denied by

Sinn Féin Sinn Féin ( , ; en, " eOurselves") is an Irish republican and democratic socialist political party active throughout both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The original Sinn Féin organisation was founded in 1905 by Arthur Gri ...

Gerry Adams Gerard Adams ( ga, Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948) is an Irish republican politician who was the president of Sinn Féin between 13 November 1983 and 10 February 2018, and served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for Louth from 2011 to 2020 ...

and the PSNI. A teenager and a man caught in the blast were also wounded. It later turned out that Branagh was a member of the

Ulster Young Militants The Ulster Young Militants (UYM) are considered to be the youth wing of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), an Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. Commonly known as the Young Militants or UYM, the group formed in 1974 when t ...

, the youth wing of the loyalist

Ulster Defence Association The Ulster Defence Association (UDA) is an Ulster loyalism, Ulster loyalist paramilitary group in Northern Ireland. It was formed in September 1971 as an umbrella group for various loyalist groups and Timeline of Ulster Defence Association act ...

(UDA) paramilitary group. The UDA's ceasefire was considered "over" in October following other violent riots or shootings orchestrated by its members. 24 PSNI officers and two

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

soldiers were injured and eight PSNI vehicles burnt. An 11-year-old boy was treated in hospital for a leg injury blamed on a plastic baton round from the police. The police called the riots the "worst in years". In the evening disturbances, a 14-year-old Catholic girl was wounded when hit in the stomach by a

plastic bullet A plastic bullet or plastic baton round (PBR) is a non-lethal projectile fired from a specialised gun. Although designed as a non-lethal weapon, they have caused a number of deaths when used incorrectly. Plastic bullets are generally used for ...

, of which nine were fired by police. Catholics claimed two other youngsters were also hit. There were several shootings until the early hours of the morning, including a shooting at four youths from a car in

Antrim Road The Antrim Road is a major arterial route and area of housing and commerce that runs from inner city north Belfast to Dunadry, passing through Newtownabbey and Templepatrick. It forms part of the A6 road, a traffic route which links Belfast to Der ...

and a shotgun incident in Eliza Street in central Belfast, though nobody was injured. Rioting happened again on 16 and 17 November around Whitewell and Limestone Road between rival nationalists and loyalists. A number of civilians were injured and many petrol bombs and missiles were thrown, including in people's homes.

References

{{reflist Riots and civil disorder in Northern Ireland 2000s in Northern Ireland November 2001 events in the United Kingdom History of Belfast 2001 in Northern Ireland Protests in Northern Ireland

See also

References