Violence continued in Northern Ireland last night as thugs through petrol bombs and bricks at police for the fifth night in a row. The events have been dubbed a “week of shame” after violence erupted following the alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town of Ballymena and the resulting arrest of two 14-year-old boys who required a Romanian translator.

Peaceful protests were originally held on Monday but soon erupted into violence, with mobs rampaging through the streets with chants of “where are the foreigners” being sung as violence spread to places such as Belfast, Portadown and Coleraine. Police Federation chairman Liam Kelly said it has been "a week of shame with appalling levels of unrest in towns and cities. Burning people out of their homes, attacking a leisure centre, and the specific targeting of individuals and property fuelled by overt racism and prejudice, is totally deplorable.

"Yet again, our overstretched police officers have also been attacked with petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks as they sought to keep people safe and maintain law and order.

"They have held the line with great courage and professionalism and are owed a debt of gratitude by this community.”

An arson attack on a house in Coleraine in the early hours of Wednesday morning, which saw a couple and four young children narrowly escape, is being treated by police as arson with a racially motivated hate element.

The xenophobic and racist tone of the protests have seen some homeowners putting posters on the front of their houses to indicate that they are locals in the hope of avoiding damage by yobs.

Last night, one officer was hit by a petrol bomb thrown directly into a line of riot police as social media became flooded with videos of youths setting fire to and damaging property, seemingly at random.

In multiple towns across the country last night, rubber bullets and water cannons were used to disperse rioters amid a “scaled up” police operation.

Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O'Neill called for the violence to stop, saying it is “wrong on every level.”

She said: "What we have seen over the last four days has been devastation, has been horrific for those people targeted - these are women and children, these are families, at the brunt of racist, violent attacks, and it is wrong on every level.”

Two 14-year-old boys arrested in connection with the alleged sexual assault that triggered the violence cannot be named for legal reasons due to their age.

A third man, aged 28, has also been arrested in connection with an alleged sexual assault.