THE PSNI HAS said that there is “no doubt” that there was paramilitary involvement in rioting in Belfast last night. However, they were not able to say for certain which specific groups were involved.

A spokesperson for the PSNI said, “we know that we have some elements still remaining in our communities that will use the history of Northern Ireland to stir up violence and promote division and intolerance, and we believe that that played some part in what we have seen in the last three days”.

PSNI officers came under “sustained attack” last night, as petrol bombs were thrown by rioters. At one point, a PSNI vehicle was doused in petrol and set alight.

Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said the PSNI is “working at pace” to identify offenders and make arrests.

Social Democratic and Labour Party MLA Clare Hanna said that there has been “a ready bed of recreational troublemakers”.

“We have had many continuing years of paramilitary influence here. We’ve been pushing back for months about dehumanising and intimidatory language and signage being put up around South Belfast, targeting people from a minority ethnic background who are, at the end of the day, doing more to provide for the community than those attacking them,” she said.

On Saturday, riot police were deployed to Belfast city centre in response to an anti-immigrant demonstration. Far-right elements from Dublin were seen marching behind a ‘Coolock Says No’ banner, joined by people waving loyalist flags and union jacks.

Violence continued on Sunday and Monday nights, with a number of shops, restaurants, and cafés belonging to people from migrant backgrounds being targeted.

In the wake of the violence, the Stormont Assembly has been recalled to discuss a response.

Unrest spread to Belfast from the UK, after riots broke out primarily in England over the killing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport, Merseyside, last week.

 With reporting from Diarmuid Pepper and the Press Association.