Church leaders appeal for calm after violence

Church leaders have appealed for calm after violence in Londonderry which police believe involved children as young as 10 and may have been orchestrated by paramilitaries.

Catholic Bishop Donal McKeown and the Church of Ireland Bishop of Derry and Raphoe Andrew Forster spoke out after visiting the mainly-Protestant Fountain estate on Wednesday night, where homes were attacked the previous night.

Two boys, aged 13 and 14, were arrested following the disorder in nearby Bishop Street, during which police were attacked with petrol bombs and other missiles.

A third boy, aged 11, has also been released on bail after being arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour and having an offensive weapon.

"If there are people orchestrating it they really need to look at themselves and to the children who are involved," Forster said.

"We went up to where the interface is and spoke to some of the residents there and my heart went out to them because if you are living with projectiles, missiles coming over the fence landing in your garden it's incredibly dangerous and it's very intimidating," he told BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme.

Forster said the community had to speak "with one voice" against the violence.

"We need to put ourselves in the position of those who are feeling frightened and afraid and respond accordingly," he said.

"I do fear at times because, you know, community relations... I wouldn't say that it's a knife edge but it's a delicate balance, it's a delicate thing and it's easy for that balance to be tipped and incidents like this can tip a balance that moves us away from good community response."

His Catholic counterpart added: "Nobody wants to have young people scarred by the burden of their pasts. We have enough people like that in the city already.

"So I hope that together as a city united we can say 'look this is not good enough'."

The two teenage boys who were arrested have been released on bail pending further police inquiries.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said the area remained calm on Wednesday night, with no repeat of the scenes of the previous evening.

The city's police commander, Ch Supt Gillian Kearney, said there were concerns that paramilitaries may be involved in organising the disorder on Tuesday.

She said there was a "combination of reasons" why the trouble was happening.

"There are a number of factors that are contributing to this, the longer nights and the fact that we are seeing a number of sectarian incidents happening across the district."

Paramilitary groupings are a line of enquiry, she said.

"We will see further arrests in relation to the disorder," Kearney added.

She said the community would continue to see a visible policing presence.