No justification for violence, says Adams

Northern reaction: The Sinn Féin president and other Northern politicians issued strong condemnation of the violence in Dublin…

Northern reaction: The Sinn Féin president and other Northern politicians issued strong condemnation of the violence in Dublin.

Gerry Adams described the actions of those responsible for the disturbances as "entirely wrong and reprehensible".

"There is no justification for what happened in Dublin. Sinn Féin had appealed to people to ignore this loyalist parade and not to be provoked by it. Our view was that it should not be opposed in any way and we made that clear," he said. "Regrettably a small, unrepresentative group chose to ignore our appeal," he said.

SDLP leader Mark Durkan said the rioters disgraced themselves and provided the Love Ulster organisers "even more strife than they could have hoped for".

"The scenes of violence and the damage to property have been appalling and smear the name of true Irish republicanism," he said.

Ulster Unionist leader Reg Empey said the rioters made unionism's point better than unionists could. "I deeply regret the attacks on the Garda and some journalists, and would say to those who are pushing for greater co-operation North and South that the republican thugs have made the case for unionism more graphically than we could have ourselves."

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Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty

Gerry Moriarty is the former Northern editor of The Irish Times