Bullets were sent to a journalist and politician in Northern Ireland this weekend, as tensions continue to rise over a controversial decision last month to only fly the Union flag over Belfast City Hall on specific days rather than year round.

Local police intercepted a letter with a bullet intended for a Belfast-based journalist who had reported on loyalist protests. A bullet and sympathy card addressed to Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) assembly member Patsy McGlone were also intercepted by Royal Mail over the weekend. Last month a pipe bomb was planted outside of the home of a Northern Ireland press photographer.