Rioting broke out following the 12 July Orange Order parade, when local Orangemen were barred from returning via their traditional route via the main Crumlin Road passing the Catholic-populated Ardoyne in north Belfast, which ignited protests from loyalists.
Nigel Dodds, the unionist MP for Belfast North, was injured and hospitalised when struck in the head by a missile when he was trying to negotiate with police officers in Woodvale Avenue.
It was an unprecedented move - in the past, and during the Troubles, the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) never called in extra police but used the British Army soldiers, who withdrew from Northern Ireland in 2007.
[3] Violent clashes broke out on the evening of Friday 9 August when loyalists attempted to prevent a parade of 5,000 Irish republican marking the anniversary of internment in 1971 through the city centre.
[5] The parade organisers decided to avoid Royal Avenue and take a route via Carrick Hill and Millfield, near the city centre, towards west Belfast.