Violence erupts after Northern Ireland march

LONDON: Northern Ireland police used water cannon to quell violence that broke out after loyalist and republican parades passed through North Belfast on Thursday.

Hundreds of riot police were attacked with petrol bombs and a car was set alight after a small group of loyalist Orange Order marchers, accompanied by police, completed a controversial parade through the city's Catholic Ardoyne area.

The marchers were welcomed by a large group of loyalists after they completed the Ardoyne stretch of the parade. Groups of loyalists and republicans then traded insults across police lines.

Most nationalists, who believe in a united Ireland, object to the march, which marks William III's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690.

After the initial violence died down, police allowed a planned protest parade by The Greater Ardoyne Residents' Collective to go ahead.

The Twelfth of July parade is the culmination of the Protestant Orange Order's marching season and is usually marred by violence. (AFP)