Several police officers have been injured trying to protect a regional office belonging to the non-sectarian Alliance party in Northern Ireland from crowds of rioting loyalists.
The disorder in the County Antrim coastal town of Carrickfergus is connected to loyalist protests over the decision of nearby Belfast city council to end its policy of flying the union flag all year round.
Alliance councillors in Belfast city hall managed to persuade nationalists to back a compromise motion allowing for the union flag to be flown only on designated days, such as the Queen's birthday. But the decision provoked anger among unionist politicians and sparked riots outside Belfast city hall in which 18 police officers were injured on Monday. The violent protests over the union flag row have now extended to the East Antrim town, which has long-standing historical links to the Ulster loyalist-Protestant cause.
King William of Orange landed his forces in Carrickfergus in 1690 before the decisive battle against King James II's Catholic forces at the river Boyne.
On Wednesday night baton rounds were fired at a crowd of more than 1,000 loyalist demonstrators while fire crews had to deal with a blaze at the constituency office of the Alliance party assemblyman for East Antrim, Stewart Dickson.
Police were holding back the loyalist protest at the Irish Gate area of Carrickfergus, and said that four people had been arrested.
Dickson has confirmed that his office was on fire and claimed that the blame lay "solely at the feet" of the Ulster Unionist party and the Democratic Unionist party. Both the DUP and UUP have been bitterly critical of Alliance's role in ending the policy of flying the union flag at Belfast city hall every day of the year. Alliance holds the balance of power on Belfast city council and has been arguing that the policy is in direct contradiction of the power sharing executive at Stormont and its aim for a shared future in Northern Ireland.
Alliance party leader and Northern Ireland's justice minister, David Ford had demanded a recall of the Stormont assembly where he wants answers from mainstream unionist politicians about the violence.
Speaking about Wednesday night's trouble, Dickson said he had witnessed "hand-to-hand combat" between loyalist protesters and the police during the evening's disturbances.
"This is an outright attack on democracy and cannot be allowed to continue. The police have informed me that my office is on fire … this campaign of intimidation against the Alliance party cannot be allowed to continue," he said.
On Tuesday, Laura McNamee, a fellow Alliance party member councillor said she had been forced to leave her home in east Belfast due to threats from extreme loyalists over the city hall flag vote.
