BELFAST (Reuters) - A mechanical digger was smashed into a Catholic bar in a flashpoint district of Belfast on Friday in an attack local politicians blamed on Protestants.Windows were smashed and some structural damage done, police said, but no one was injured. A fire started but was quickly put out. The attack, in the Ardoyne area in the north of the city, took place shortly before 1 a.m. (midnight GMT).
"A number of people were inside the bar at the time but they managed to get out," a police spokeswoman said. "A large crowd had gathered outside but police restored calm with the assistance of local community representatives."
The incident happened at one of north Belfast's so-called interface areas, where mutually hostile Catholic and Protestant communities live close to each other.
Former Belfast lord mayor Martin Morgan, of the moderate Catholic Social Democratic and Labor Party, blamed Protestant "loyalists" for the attack, which he described as "reckless with intent to murder."
"I have no doubt that the loyalist hooligans responsible for this attack set out to heighten tensions in the area between the two communities, and I am calling on people in my community to remain calm in the face of this aggression," he added.
