Serious rioting has broken out East Belfast this afternoon as Loyalists returning from a demonstration in the city centre clashed with Nationalists in the Short Strand.
Hundreds of police officers tried to keep the factions apart as bottles, golf balls and bricks were thrown.
At one stage, hundreds of loyalists were directed by the PSNI past Belfast's main central station and motorists got caught up in the mayhem.
Dozens of PSNI landrovers and hundreds of officers are now forming a barrier at the bottom of the Newtonards Road and large crowds are on the street.
Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers are to meet with the Tánaiste next week as protests over the Union flag issue shows no sign of abating.
Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has expressed concern at the further attacks on police officers last night and the ongoing disruption to civic life in Northern Ireland.
"This violence is being orchestrated and those behind it are known criminals, intent on creating chaos," he said in a statement.
"This has nothing to do with real issues around flags and identity in a shared society which are the subject of intensive political discussions at present".
It is forty days since Belfast City Council made its controversial decision to reduce the number of days the Union flag is raised over city hall.
Last night's demonstrations showed there is no sign of an end to the anger in some loyalist communities.
The Stormont Assembly is due to re-open next week.
There has been ongoing contact between the administrations in London, Dublin and Belfast.
The meeting planned for next week between Peter Robinson, Martin Mc Guinness, Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers and Tánaiste Eamonn Gilmore, is an effort to publicly show that the commitment to the progress made in recent years remains rock solid.
The Union flag controversy and the unrest that followed amount to the greatest test to date of the principles that underpin the Good Friday Agreement.
Suspicious Device
Meanwhile, a number of homes have been evacuated and part of the railway line in Belfast has been closed following the discovery of a suspicious device.
Army bomb disposal officers are examining the object that was found in Donegall Avenue in the south of the city.
The road is closed, and part of the Donagall Road has also been sealed off between Empire Street and Roden Street.
Iarnród Éireann says a bus transfer is in place between Newry and Belfast Central due to the security alert in Belfast.
A train service is operating between Connolly and Newry.
Police injured during riots
Last night, four police officers were injured during riots.
Police fired plastic baton rounds and used water cannons during street disturbances in Carrickfergus Co Antrim and in Rathcoole, on the northern outskirts of Belfast.
During the violence, police were attacked with petrol bombs, bricks and other missiles.
A number of vehicles, including a bus, were set on fire.
Two people were arrested.
Northern Ireland's Minister for Enterprise Arlene Foster said the trouble is damaging the image of Northern Ireland.
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