Video: Adams calls for real dialogue with Orange Order following fourth night of violence

» Mark Moloney

'Violence from any quarter must be deplored and condemned'

SINN FÉIN President Gerry Adams TD has called for real dialogue between the Orange Order and the communities through which they want to march following a fourth night of rioting in Belfast.

Adams described the violence which saw rioters, some still wearing orange sashes, attack nationalist homes and PSNI officers with ceremonial swords, bricks, bottles and blast bombs as "naked sectarian aggression".

"Nationalist homes in the Short Strand have been attacked by petrol bombs and blast bombs," said Adams, "Violence from any quarter must be deplored and condemned. And what we are witnessing on the streets of Belfast at this time is naked aggressive sectarianism."

Adams says the Orange Order has so far failed to provide the leadership to prevent violence and is instead seeking to blame others for its own failings.

"The loyal orders and Orangeism are a part of who we are as a nation. Irish republicans accept the right of the orders to parade and to promote their sense of identity," the Sinn Féin leader said. "But this has to be on the basis of equality and tolerance. Sectarianism and bigotry or incitement to hatred cannot be tolerated."

The Orange Order called for protests on Friday after one of its return marches through the nationalist Ardoyne area was banned by the Parades Commission. The ruling was enfored by the PSNI who have since come under attack from loyalists.

Gerry Adams has confirmed that the Sinn Féin MLA for Ardoyne, Gerry Kelly, is directly contacting Reverend Mervyn Gibson of the Orange Order after he said on the Stephen Nolan show on Radio Ulster on Monday that the Orange Order was willing to talk to nationalists.

❑  Armagh-based unionist agitator Willie Frazer was arrested by the PSNI in east Belfast on Tuesday afternoon for breaching bail conditions imposed after his arrest during the Union flag protests.