The result was violence involving large numbers of Protestants and Catholics, centring on the Falls and in the Ardoyne–Crumlin Road area of north Belfast. Ancient guns came out of their attic hiding places, sending rifle and pistol shots ringing down the backstreets. Hundreds of houses were set on fire. Thousands of stones and other missiles were thrown, and barricades were erected across streets. The RUC staged baton charges, crowds surging back and forward between Protestant and Catholic areas.
