Loyalist paramilitaries were behind the racist disorder that erupted on the streets of Belfast last week, SDLP leader Claire Hanna has told the House of Commons.

During Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, the South Belfast MP said shadowy figures remain in the background, getting young people to take part in violence while they avoid public scrutiny.

She called for a full review of funding given to groups linked to paramilitaries, an enhanced focus on organised crime, and a commitment to tackle those inciting hatred both online and offline.

Her comments follow a fortnight of attacks that saw immigrant families, mostly from former British territories, driven from their homes in loyalist areas. Possessions were destroyed and victims were taken by police to community centres.

Health workers were asked for identification by masked men and journalists were attacked during the disturbances. The targeting of people of colour represents an escalation of low-level intimidation that has persisted since the Belfast Agreement, including window-smashing, graffiti, tyre-slashing and occasional firebombing.

The violence comes as census data confirms a notable shift in Northern Ireland’s religious makeup. Catholics now outnumber all other Christian denominations in four of the six counties and in Belfast. The region is no longer a majority Protestant state. Immigrants and those who do not declare a religion hold the balance between traditional communities.

In wider political developments, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said Fine Gael will publish a plan for Irish unity in the autumn. DUP MP Gregory Campbell has stated that any border poll would simply ask voters whether they wish to end the existence of Northern Ireland.