Jayne McCormack
BBC News NI political correspondent

Stormont's largest political parties are starting to do press conferences in parliament buildings this afternoon, after having met the Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn.

After their meeting, SDLP leader Claire Hanna was asked what in her view is behind some of the disorder.

She said there was a "toxic mix" of "online radicalisation and agitators rotting people's brains with hateful content", but the South Belfast and Mid Down MP also pointed to "structural problems" within communities including loyalist paramilitaries and said it was allowing messages to be "perpetuated at a local level... stoking people's worst fears".

She also called on the government and the executive to follow through on plans to counter radicalisation and promote cohesion.

One primary school in Belfast says almost half of pupils are off today. Many of these students, the principal says, are from newcomer families.

“It’s very difficult, there’s not a course in the world that can prepare you for this as a school leader," Phil Massey said.

"You try and react as best you can and try and take into account the needs of the children, staff and families."

185 children usually attend the school but just over 80 are in class today.

Massey says he's encouraging people to see school as a safe space, but says he has received a number of phone calls from staff and families about concerns and fears for their safety.

“The atmosphere in the area for those families is just one of complete uncertainty."

He said these families live legally in northern Ireland, with many working in the local hospitals.

“At the end of the day those children are as much part of our school family as the ones that are in today, and we really miss them not being in school. We really want them to be here.”

A woman whose daughter filmed the attack in north Belfast said it has left her too afraid to leave her house.

Karen described how her daughter Rachel is now is receiving death threats by people saying she should have done more to help.

"When you're a young 26-year-old girl – I don't know what else she was supposed to do and I for one am glad that she didn't intervene because it could've been a very different story for us," she told the Nolan Show.

She said Rachel was on her way home from work and was dropped off at her partner's house then received a call from her friend saying that something was going on outside.

When Rachel arrived she shouted "get off him" then went over but saw the knife so she stopped.

She phoned emergency services before filming the attack. Her mum said she was so upset at witnessing the incident, that she was taken to hospital and was sedated.

"Every time she closes here eyes she still sees exactly what went on and what happened."

Cormac Campbell
BBC News NI south-east reporter

On Portadown’s Thomas Street, boarded up windows and melted plastic and tarmac tell the story of the past two evenings.

Methodist minister Darrin Thompson said there has been tension in the town for some time.

“People feel that they're being pressed out of their own town at times. I don't necessarily fully agree with that, but at the same time, that's how people feel."

He said that newcomers, asylum seekers and migrants are here looking for a better life.

"We shouldn't be intimidating them and making them fear, the way they did here on Tuesday night."

A primary school in west Belfast says some of its children were "forcibly evicted from their homes" by "angry mobs" and families spent yesterday trying to find alternative accommodation.

"Following Tuesday night's disorder many classrooms on Wednesday had children missing," a letter from St Teresa's to parents, which was also posted on the school's social media, external, says.

It added that men, women and children who had committed no crimes had been "targeted because of the colour of their skin".

TUV councillor in Belfast, Ron McDowell, tells BBC Radio Ulster’s Talkback programme that “tensions have been brewing” in communities across Belfast, including the Shankill where he lives, “for years”.

“We’ve had this conversation numerous times in the past. Nobody is addressing the social issues that these communities face as a result of immigration. Nobody is addressing the concerns of people,” he says.

DUP MP Carla Lockhart has condemned the violence, and says that “politics and the government have failed local communities”.

“People are angry and concerned for their safety. Therefore, they want the government to give answers around issues such as how many migrants, illegal migrants, have arrived in the UK via the Republic of Ireland land border. That, I believe, is one of the most important questions around all of this.”

Water cannon are used in Northern Ireland, but have never been deployed in the rest of the UK.

In 2015, then-Home Secretary Theresa May refused to allow their use in England and Wales, a year after three were bought by the Metropolitan Police.

May said "without safeguards" they had "the capacity to cause harm".

She said that while evidence suggested they were "unlikely to result in serious or life-threatening injuries", there were still "direct and indirect medical risks", including spinal fracture, concussion, eye injury and blunt trauma.

Image source, PA Media

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater - whose sister Jo Cox was murdered by a far-right extremist in 2016 - has condemned the violence in Northern Ireland as "devastating", and has urged people not to "create chaos".

Speaking to PA news agency, she says it is not right to "vilify an entire community or an entire group of people who might not look like you do".

Leadbeater says she understands the "pain and trauma" of having a loved one murdered, but that she chose not to be "filled with anger and rage" after her sister's murder because the act was "his [the far-right extremist's] and his alone".

Cox - also a Labour MP - was killed in 2016 on her way to a constituency surgery

Leadbeater urges people to channel their anger into “doing something positive for your community”.

From 19:00 to 23:59 BST on Wednesday, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service received 82 emergency calls.

Crews were then sent to 33 incidents across Belfast, Mallusk, Glengormley and Portadown.

These included a vehicle fire, lorry fire, house fire, derelict building fire and industrial bin fire.

"We would like to thank our firefighters for their continued commitment and to our community for their ongoing support," the Fire Service said.

Image source, PA Media

The press conference has now ended, but before it did, Henderson warned water cannon would again be deployed tonight, alongside additional police and public order dogs.

"We will be robust in bringing order to our streets," he said.

He said police would also increase patrols around hospitals to reassure healthcare workers.

Henderson warned the stakes were "very high" for those involved, urging people fuelling violent rhetoric to stop.

"You're going to put young people at risk of becoming part of the criminal justice system," he said.

Asked about reports of "hit lists" online targeting particular addresses, Henderson warned police had been "actively patrolling" areas where they believed harm could occur due to information posted on the internet, and added they would be taking such material offline.

Image source, Pacemaker

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson also says police have seen significant coordination relating to the violence on social media from inside and outside Northern Ireland.

"That toxicity is what's bringing people out onto the streets and it needs to stop," he says.

Henderson says that there's no evidence to say that violence is being coordinated by loyalist paramilitaries but added if that was the case, "we will not be shy to investigate".

Henderson says police are closely watching what people are putting online and will take action against those found to have broken the law.

"I want to say directly to the big social media companies, if you're hosting material content on your sites that is encouraging disorder, that needs to stop," he says.

Henderson says "we should all listen to the words" of the family of knifing victim Stephen Ogilvie after they issued a statement on Wednesday calling for calm.

"They could not be more clear that violence is not in Stephen's name," he says.

Henderson also says the force stands with the community against those who carry out violence, and that police will be out in "significant numbers", bolstered by officers from forces sent from elsewhere in the UK, adding officers will be deployed across Northern Ireland.

He says police are increasing patrols in key areas, and are talking to businesses and healthcare providers. Some care providers have said their migrant employees were targeted on Wednesday.

"The streets of Northern Ireland need to return to calm and order."

Image source, PA Media

He says police will track down people who participated in the disorder, and says the force will release more images, external of those it wishes to speak to after calling for information on participants earlier today.

"There'll be further images released as our detectives work tirelessly to identify those responsible and bring them to justice," he says.

Henderson says it was clear that those who attended recent disorder were not peaceful protesters, "rather, they were intent on violence".

"We'll bring you to justice and I know the judiciary in Northern Ireland stands ready to give long sentences to those bringing disorder to our streets," he says, adding communities and businesses "deserve to get back to normal".

Speaking about how police responded to the unrest, Henderson says the officers fired 20 AEP (Attenuating Energy Projectiles) rounds as well as using a water cannon against crowds.

He says police responded to unrest in Newtownabbey, County Antrim and Portadown, County Armagh.

Henderson adds 12 officers were injured, including some by petrol bombs, but that the majority of the injuries were minor and most of the officers were "straight back on the line where they want to be".

There were also 16 arrests made.

Henderson adds he's "hugely grateful" for the efforts of their officers for their "incredible resilience and bravery in the face of that disorder".

We're hearing now from Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson, who is giving a briefing to media on last night's violence.

He begins by condemning the second night of disorder seen in some areas across Northern Ireland.

"This violent behaviour by a thuggish minority will not be tolerated," he says.

Image source, PA Media

The disorder in Northern Ireland has seriously damaged trade, a small business leader told the BBC earlier today.

"Protest if you like, but if you have to protest with a mask, there is something wrong," Tina McKenzie, policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, said on Good Morning Ulster.

McKenzie said many businesses who stayed open through the Troubles felt they had to shut after anonymous Facebook posts this week warned employers to send staff home early.

She called on the authorities stand up for workers and say: "We're not going to shut off the schools, we're not going to shut off the buses - we're going to stand together and we're not going to be intimidated."

Kelly Bonner
BBC News NI

While in Glengormley this morning I met Philip Brett, the Democratic Unionist Party MLA for the area.

He's been calling door-to-door and speaking to residents.

When I asked him who was organising the rioting last night, he says he doesn't know but that it was mainly children involved.

He is urging them to stop - saying they will be arrested and this will affect their futures.

Police are due to hold another press conference shortly following a second night of disorder, albeit not as widespread as it was on Tuesday.

We've already heard 12 PSNI officers were injured last night, according to Secretary of State Hilary Benn, in addition to the two officers who were injured on Tuesday.

We are expecting to hear from Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson, who also spoke the media on Tuesday in the aftermath of the Belfast knife attack.

We'll be streaming the press conference live and you can watch by pressing play at the top of this page when it begins.

Police Scotland now say two people were arrested and three officers injured during a protest outside a hotel in Greenock that has been used to house asylum seekers.

Two police vehicles were also damaged as items were thrown at officers near the Holiday Inn Express on Wednesday evening.

The arrested men were issued with fixed penalty notices for anti-social behaviour.

Speaking on the media rounds this morning, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn condemned the violence in Northern Ireland as "racist thuggery".

"If you are burning someone out of their home saying 'foreigners out', what other word would you use?" he asks BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He says it has created a "sense of terror and fear" among ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland.

Others have also condemned the attacks as racially motivated in statements this morning:

• "These acts serve no one and only cause harm and fear within communities," said Northern Ireland's Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins after a vehicle owned by her department was set on fire in a depot in County Antrim
• "Every time a politician blames migrants and refugees for problems created by our unjust economic system it fuels hatred," said Unison general secretary Andrea Egan on X, calling on leaders to "stop emboldening the far-right"
• "Blaming a group of people for the awful actions of an individual leads us to a very dark place," said Green Party leader Zack Polanski, accusing Elon Musk of stoking violence on X