Three men have been charged over disorder that broke out at a loyalist parade in Northern Ireland, police said today.
They were arrested following disturbances at an Apprentice Boys march in Castlederg, Co Tyrone.
Three police officers were hurt during the trouble, although not seriously. Apprentice Boys were returning from the main Lundy's Day celebrations in Derry when violence flared.
Marchers reportedly tried to go through a nationalist part of the town. Sinn Fein West Tyrone Assembly member Barry McElduff accused police of allowing Apprentice Boys to break Parades Commission guidelines.
"The partial way in which they facilitated loyalist law-breaking only underlines the reasons why many nationalists and republicans have little or no confidence in this force," he claimed. The men arrested, aged 20, 28 and 33, have been charged with disorderly behaviour and other offences.
They will appear at Strabane Magistrates Court on December 22nd. Despite the disturbances, the main event in Derry, which marked the 316th anniversary of the shutting of the city's gates by 13 young apprentices against the forces of Catholic King James II in 1688, passed off without major incident.
Some youths attacked police with stones and bottles, leading to five arrests.