Trade union Unison says it has been helping "terrified" health workers from overseas after receiving reports of them being followed to and from work, being intimidated from their homes or becoming afraid to leave their homes.

Patricia McKeown, regional secretary with Unison, tells Good Morning Ulster that when the "horrific" incident happened in north Belfast on Monday night, they saw "the call to arms on social media we knew immediately our members from overseas were going to be under threat".

"We went to the mode we normally go into the try protect people. Negotiated with employers, we talked about the need for protection to and from work and for alternative shift arrangements and, indeed, for accommodation where necessary," McKeown says.

She says that yesterday evening, a nurse with "a different skin colour was chased into the Ulster Hospital by four masked men".

Despite experiencing the trauma of that incident, McKeown says, the nurse "insisted on doing her shift".

"There is no excuse for any of this. This is racism, pure and simple."

More from Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, who says twelve police officers were injured during a second night of disorder.

He also says 16 arrests were made during the unrest.

Image source, PA Media

The chair of the NI Policing Board, Brendan Mullan, says police officers are “stretched”.

"The police service has currently 6,300 officers against a recognised need for 7,500 so it lacks resilience," he tells Good Morning Ulster.

He says there have been a “small number” of officers injured through petrol bombs in Carrickfergus and there will be a briefing with the chief constable later today to determine if any officers were injured last night.

He tells the programme there have been meetings between the police and ethnic minority community representatives and there will be another meeting later this evening.

Asked about the alleged attacker's travel route into the UK, Benn says the government is increasing enforcement against abuse of the common travel area that allows travel between Ireland and Northern Ireland.

"We are determined to do more to crack down on illegal migration, and that is why you will see more raids and more detentions," he says.

Benn says a previous system that fast-tracked asylum applications from Sudanese people through a questionnaire is no longer in place, "and anyone who applies now is properly processed".

He stresses that Monday's stabbing was an individual case and the alleged attacker is responsible, "not people who come from Sudan or other countries".

"We have a long and honourable tradition in this country of giving shelter to people who are fleeing war and persecution, and we should be proud of that as a nation."

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn says the Northern Ireland police service will be receiving assistance from Police Scotland. This will include dog teams "to help with public order control". These sorts of arrangements are "well established", he says.

On suggestions some social media users have been sharing addresses to target online, Benn says: "I'm certainly aware that happened last year in Ballymena."

• For context, violence erupted in Ballymena, County Antrim, last summer with the town's Roma (Gypsy) community and other foreign nationals being targeted

He says it is "completely unacceptable", adding that social media companies have a "very heavy responsibility". That's why the government is going to bring forward new powers next week to make clear that social media companies need to take down illegal content, he adds.

Hilary Benn, the UK secretary of state for Northern Ireland, says he's thankfully there was less disorder last night and he hopes that means "people are reflecting on the truly shocking scenes we saw on Tuesday night, with people being burnt out of their homes because of the colour of their skin".

"There is no justification for that, and nothing can explain it away, and it's left a lot of people terrified."

Benn tells the BBC's Breakfast programme that he wants to convey the sense of fear among people from ethnic minorities in Northern Ireland.

"They've heard about, for example, people being stopped in their cars on the way to work to ask what their nationality is."

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Chief Constable, Jon Boutcher, has called on people to not get "carried away with a tide" of views online and be "persuaded by people who know nothing about Northern Ireland".

Police have also warned that social media posts sharing addresses are "totally unacceptable" and may be a criminal offence.

Members of the community have been left "extremely distressed as a result of this reckless activity", they say, adding that it is "putting lives at risk". They say they will be investigating posts.

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn has said it is now down to people who have participated in disorder to decide whether they want to continue to "leave children absolutely terrified as they're taken out into the dark with flames and screaming around them".

While water cannon were deployed and additional officers drafted in, Wednesday's disorder was not on the same scale as Tuesday's violence which saw people flee their homes.

Cabinet Office minister Baroness Anderson told the Lords 27 people had been made homeless on Tuesday night "because people went door-to-door to try and target foreign nationals".

A two-month-old baby was among those rescued during Tuesday's violence, the Police Service of Northern Ireland's chief constable said.

Two police officers were also injured.

It came after groups of masked men set fire to houses, a bus and cars, mostly in Belfast. Petrol bombs were also thrown at police in a number of locations.

Footage from Sandyknowes roundabout, an area north west of Belfast, shows people damaging property and throwing objects toward police officers.

One person can be seen in the footage wielding a sledge hammer against driveway, while others remove parts of the bricked surface.

Image source, Getty Images

Following Tuesday night's disorder, the family of knifing victim Stephen Ogilvie on Wednesday called for restraint.

"We want to make it absolutely clear that overnight unrest is not welcome, and peaceful protest is the only way forward," the family said.

"We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including in our healthcare system and hospitality sector and we depend on them to make our country work."

They said they did not want this "terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility".

Ogilvie, who is in his 40s, has lost his left eye and has damage to his right eye, along with injuries to his neck and back.

Hadi Alodid, a 30-year-old originally from Sudan, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder.

Image source, PA Media

Police in Belfast used a water cannon to disperse a large crowd at the Sandyknowes roundabout in Glengormley - about eight miles (13km) north-west of Belfast city centre - to disperse a large crowd after a second night of disorder in Northern Ireland.

Riot police came under sustained attack from a group throwing bricks, bottles and pieces of wood.

Additional officers were drafted in but Wednesday's disorder was not on the same scale as Tuesday's violence.

Footage showed dozens of people dressed all in black and wearing face coverings tearing up the driveways and fences of nearby houses to use as missiles.

A large Department for Infrastructure vehicle was seen in flames, and bins were set on fire.

The crowd attempted to set fire to a derelict property in the same area, with some throwing petrol bombs at police lines.

There have been protests elsewhere in Northern Ireland but they have been largely peaceful.

Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Emma Little-Pengelly says the violent scenes from Belfast have "appalled and horrified absolutely everyone".

She tells the BBC's Breakfast programme that while some peaceful protesters do have legitimate concerns, others seem determined to cause "violence, thuggery and disorder".

"That is absolutely wrong," she says. "We of course have been united in calling for that to stop immediately."

In response to a question about people being targeted because of the colour of their skin, Little-Pengelly says she strongly condemns those motivated by racism.

"All they are doing is destroying their own communities, and they are destroying the very cause that they claim to be supporting."

Image source, PA Media

Belfast is waking following another night of violent unrest which saw police deploy a water cannon against black-clad rioters in Northern Ireland's capital.

Wednesday's violence came after crowds of masked men set fire to homes, cars and a bus the previous day following a serious knife attack in Belfast on Monday night.

Hadi Alodid, 30, originally from Sudan, appeared in court on Wednesday charged with attempted murder. The family of Stephen Ogilvie, who suffered serious injuries in the attack, appealed for calm on the streets, urging against the incident being "used to divide people or fuel hostility".

They echoed calls from Northern Irish and UK leaders, with prime minister calling acts of violence and arson "unjustified".

BBC's Breakfast programme is hearing from Deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland Emma Little-Pengelly, with Hilary Benn, the UK secretary of state for Northern Ireland, also expected to speak soon.

We'll bring you their latest comments here.