Holylands relatively peaceful - police
SAINT Patrick's Day passed without major incident in south Belfast, police have confirmed.
A senior PSNI offficer praised the efforts from different organisations to ensure the annual festivities passed off peacefully in the student-dominated Holylands area.
Last year, drunken students were involved in ugly scenes throwing missiles at police.
In order to avoid a repeat this year, CCTV cameras were installed in the area and stewards patrolled the streets in the vicinity of Queen's University.
Police made a total of eight arrests.
Superintendent Chris Noble, who was in charge of the policing operation, said that a "huge amount of effort", had gone into the day.
He said: "We have been working very closely with Queen's University, the University of Ulster and other colleges, Belfast City Council, Northern Ireland Housing Executive, Holyland Interagency Group, local churches, and many other partners from the statutory and voluntary sector, not only to ensure that the day passed off well, but to improve the quality of life all year round for residents in the Holyland area."
"Police were joined by these agencies on the ground along with significant number of student volunteers. These volunteers in particular were critical as they worked to diffuse any issues before they could become more serious."
Mr Noble added: "The police and their partners are firmly committed to improving the quality of life for residents living both in the Holyland community and across the wider South Belfast area. We know that it is a huge issue of concern and we will continue to work to address these issues."
Employment and Learning Minister Sir Reg Empey welcomed the fact that this year's celebrations passed without major incident.
He said: "All the stakeholders, including the students themselves, are to be congratulated on their efforts to ensure we did not have a repeat of the scenes of St Patrick's Day 2009. I hope this will prove the model for future years."
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Weather for Belfast
Tuesday 14 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 6 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: North west
