Northern Ireland riots: unionist, republican leaders condemn violent clashes amid Brexit tensions

Northern Ireland's devolved government collectively appealed for calm on Thursday, ending days of disagreement over the cause of nightly outbreaks of street violence.

Democratic Unionist Party Leader Arlene Foster and Sinn Féin Leader Michelle O'Neill both expressed concern over the violence, with the former saying political problems called for political solutions not street violence, while the latter called on leaders to stand united.

Crowds of youth gathered in the past few days in Belfast, with some pelting police vans with petrol bombs and setting a hijacked bus on fire. Several of the demonstrations had taken place in pro-British areas of Belfast as frustration grows among many in the pro-British Unionist community at new trade barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom that resulted from Britain's exit from the European Union.

There have also been attacks on police and a photojournalist from the Belfast Telegraph newspaper.

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