Golfer’s victory marred by Belfast riots

“Rory: we deserve to live in peace,” headlines the Belfast Telegraph. After two nights of sectarian violence that engulfed a Belfast neighbourhood on 21/22 June, the Northern Irish daily leads with the thoughts of local “golf hero” Rory McIlroy “saddened by violence on the streets.” Having just won the US Open tournament, “the golfing sensation said his fellow countrymen and women deserve better,” the Telegraph reports. "It's sad,” lamented McIlroy, “to see what's happened the last couple of nights. I know that 99.9% of the population don't want to see that.” Homes and a church in a Catholic neighbourhood in Belfast came under attack on Monday when two to three hundred unionists poured into the area with petrol bombs, stones, bricks and paint bombs. A riot ensued when the Catholics came out to defend themselves. The attack is believed to have been launched by a renegade member of unionist paramilitary group Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) known as “The Beast in the East”. The UVF, which during the Northern Irish troubles murdered some 481 Catholics - mostly civilians - officially ended its armed campaign in 2007, decommissioning its weapons in 2009. Writes the Belfast daily, it was a disappointed McIlroy who returned home to Belfast on Tuesday evening in a private jet, having “hoped to be able to provide some positive worldwide headlines.”