A CAFE was set alight by far-right activists during a demonstration in south Belfast on Saturday, authorities in Northern Ireland said.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze on the Donegall Road was “determined and deliberate.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland reported that it had made two arrests during its ongoing investigations into hate crimes in the area.

The incident arose after far-right anti-immigration and anti-racism protesters confronted each other outside Belfast City Hall.

Later a cafe on Botanic Avenue was ransacked by far-right protesters as they headed towards the Holylands area of south Belfast.

The owner, identified as Mr Rahmi, told BBC News NI that “there could have been more of a police presence when “the parade was walking” through the area.

The PSNI said it was treating reports of criminal damage in the area as hate crimes.

But Sinn Fein’s Belfast South member in Stormont, Deidre Hargey, said the PSNI had been “warned” about the demonstrations. 

“We said there needed to be an operation in place to ensure that all of this was managed.”

In a post on social media site X, Westminster Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Hilary Benn said: “I commend the officers of the PSNI for everything they have done to keep people safe.”