Northern Ireland riots must stop before someone killed: Ireland’s Coveney

FILE PHOTO: Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney in Berlin, Germany, December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch/Pool/File Photo

DUBLIN (Reuters) – Nightly outbreaks of street violence in Northern Ireland must stop before somebody is killed, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Thursday, calling on the region’s political and community leaders to work together to ease tension.

“This needs to stop before somebody is killed or seriously injured,” Coveney told Irish national broadcaster RTE after the rioting escalated with sectarian clashes, continued attacks on police and the setting alight of a hijacked bus.

“These are scenes we haven’t seen in Northern Ireland for a very long time, they are scenes that many people thought were consigned to history and I think there needs to be a collective effort to try to diffuse tension.”

Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alex Richardson