2002 Short Strand clashes

A peace wall in Short Strand dividing it from a Protestant area

The 2002 Short Strand clashes, also known as the Siege of Short Strand, was a series of major sectarian violence and gun battles in and around the Short Strand area of east Belfast - an Irish/Catholic enclave in a wider Protestant area - in June 2002.

Clashes

The violence started as loyalists were celebrating the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II on the streets around Newtownards Road. On Friday 31 May 2002, Protestants were accused of draping unionist red-white-blue buntings on the rails of St Matthew's church in Short Strand. That evening a blast bomb was thrown at a police Land Rover car, injuring nine officers. Soldiers from three British Army regiments were called in to support the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). On Sunday 2 June, fire bombs were thrown as police, before three Protestants were injured in Cluan Place, a Protestant enclave separated from Short Strand by a peace wall, as loyalists and Irish republicans clashed. Two hours later a Catholic bus driver was wounded when he was attacked by gunmen on Lower Newtownards Road.

On Monday 3 June, up to 1,000 people were involved in street fighting and rioting in Short Strand and around Albertbridge Road. Five people were shot that day and nineteen police officers were wounded. Assistant chief contable of the PSNI claimed that paramilitaries were involved in the violence. Police constable Colin Cramphorne warned that Northern Ireland was heading for "a fresh nightmare". Both loyalists and republicans blamed each other, whilst the PSNI acknowledged that both the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) and the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) were orchestrating violence. In Cluan Place three civilians were shot. During the fighting houses were set on fire by petrol bombs, forcing many families out.

David Ervine, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) said that Short Strand had become a "no-go area" for security forces. Both Ervine and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams held emergency talks with Northern Ireland secratary John Reid. A councillor of Short Strand claimed that loyalist paramilitaries fired into the Catholic area first.

On Thursday 6 June, loyalist women blocked Lower Newtownards Road in a protest. One of their posters read "No Short Strand nationalists or republicans allowed into east Belfast". On Friday evening masked loyalist men checked identifications of students and warned young Catholics not to return to the area. By the weekend, residents were returning to their homes on both sides.

Aftermath

Northern Ireland security minister Jane Kennedy called the violence "mindless" and urged both sides to stop. SDLP leader Mark Durkan also condemned the violence and blamed loyalist paramilitaries of exploiting the situation. The violence was compared to the riots of 1969.

The BBC called the east Belfast clashes as one of the worst instances of street violence in Belfast "in a generation". In the years after the clashes, community workers on both sides of the communities formally met regularly in en effort to reduce tensions.

See also

• Battle of St Matthew's
• Holy Cross dispute
• Drumcree conflict