Bomb attack on schoolgirls in Ireland

[Colosis]

Two young girls were recovering in hospital today after being injured in an explosion as sectarian clashes intensified in North Belfast.

An eight-year-old girl suffered a shrapnel wound to her back and an 11-year-old girl was treated for shock following an explosion that police said they believed was caused by some form of blast bomb thrown by loyalists.

Northern Ireland Secretary Dr John Reid said those who threw the device at the girls were "quite simply, scum".

He said: "They bring disgrace on all of us in Northern Ireland. They need to be captured, prosecuted and locked up where their poisonous sectarian hatred can do no damage".

The two girls were hurt as rival factions continued to throw fireworks at each other and engaged in sporadic stoning at several spots in north Belfast.

At the height of the trouble, which started in the afternoon and continued into the night, about 100 nationalists and 50 loyalists were involved at several flashpoints.

RUC officers in full riot gear were called in to separate the factions and to keep them apart.

PA

[Ironword]

Well, it says in this article that rival nationalist and loyalist factions were hurling fireworks at each other, not at schoolgirls, but that the little ones were caught up in it, which is tragic.

What is the source of this article, anyway?

"They are all mad."

[Colosis]

It's unbelievable. The RUC said a blast bomb was thrown from a loyalist into an area where the girls were playing. The bomb struck one girl on the head, then exploded injuring the other. I wouldn't say an 8 or 10-year-old girl would be rioting material. BTW, the source was in the breaking news section of the Irish times.

[Norn Iron]

Sadly, it's very believable. It's not unusual for the little ones to start a fight and for their elders and 'betters' to escalate the conflict.

It's equally possible for the little girl to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

[Norn Iron]

Insanity is not limited to NI. You seem to have little grasp of the realities of life there.

[Norn Iron]

PA=Press Association [I think] It distributes news stories.

[Dr. Frank fan]

Clearly those schoolgirls should examine the reasons why they are hated, and what drove their attackers to these ends, so that they can end this cycle of violence.

[Norn Iron]

What you see is only part of the problem. Indeed what you see is what you were intended to see.

The man who coordinates the frog-marching of the little girls into the cauldron of hate is Brendan Mailey, a republican terrorist.

The Catholic Church sadly is impotent as are the other churches. They and the governments trot out pious platitudes which are duly ignored.

[Colosis]

I enjoyed your witty reply. It always amazes me that there are people here who are willing to defend the right of Loyalists to throw dog shite, urine balloons and blast bombs (every day, even today) at little girls going to school. The mind boggles.