Cowen Condemns Belfast Rioting

The Taoiseach Brian Cowen has condemned the sectarian violence in Belfast over the past two days.

Speaking on the second day of his visit to New York, Mr Cowen said the rioting of the past few days had “no place in building peace and prosperity in the North or indeed the island of Ireland”.

“I think all of us have to be very strong in our support for the police service on both sides of the border, the Gardai and PSNI,” he said, “I know that community workers work hard in many respects within their communities and we have to, obviously, work even harder to avoid unrepresentative elements who have nothing to offer their communities engaging in this sort of sectarian activity.”

Asked about PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Alistair Finlay’s criticism of the Stormont government over its preparations for the Twelfth, Mr Cowen said, “The devolution of policing powers to Northern Ireland has been a very important step. It has only just taken place in the last number of months. But the operational responsibility the police service has, has to be respected and it has to be supported.”

“It just re-emphasises and reinforces the fact that we have to do everything we can and work even harder to achieve a situation where these unrepresentative elements are not given an opportunity to display sectarianism on the streets.”