Police in riot gear have been deployed in central Belfast where rival protests are taking place.
There are tense scenes as protesters face off in front of City Hall.
One arrest has been made.
Hundreds of people gathered at 11.30am for the Unity Over Division event. Some in the crowd held banners saying ‘no to racism’ and ‘refugees are welcome’.
Anti-Islamic protesters also gathered at the front of City Hall. The group chanted “Islam out” and unfurled Union flags.
A number of fireworks and other missiles have been thrown, eyewitnesses said.
Police are mounting a significant security operation in the area.
PSNI Land Rovers formed a barrier between the anti-racism rally and anti-Islamic protesters gathered nearby.
Belfast Green Party councillor Anthony Flynn condemned the trouble.
He posted on X: “Absolutely disgusting scenes from the far-right thugs throwing fireworks, stones, and other missiles towards a peaceful anti-fascist rally.
“These people are not Belfast. They will exploit any situation to spread their vile hatred. Thanks to PSNI for keeping all safe.”
Several roads have also been closed.
The PSNI said: “Road users are advised that College Square East and Wellington Place are currently closed due to ongoing protest activity in the area.”
Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, who were killed in the attack.
Police said they are monitoring a series of planned protests.
It added: “The Police Service of Northern Ireland is aware of several planned protests across Northern Ireland today and will be in attendance to ensure the safety of everyone involved.
“Officers will remain in the area and continue to monitor the situation.”
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It follows several nights of trouble in England and planned Islamophobic protests in Belfast.
Disorder has hit parts of England this week, including in London, Manchester, Southport and Hartlepool, after the killing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club on Merseyside.
Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, from Lancashire, is accused of the attack, but false claims spread online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.
Among the speakers at the City Hall event is Patrick Corrigan, Amnesty International’s Northern Ireland director.
Speaking ahead of the rally, he said society will reject those seeking to spread division and hatred.
“From Belfast, we send our support and compassion to all those affected by the awful tragedy in Southport, to the families and friends of the girls who so tragically lost their lives in the most terrible circumstances and to the children and adults who were injured and are still in hospital,” he said.
“Some people have sought to cynically exploit that unspeakable tragedy in order to sow division and hatred, but those who seek to divide us do not know us.
“To the hate-mongers, I have a message for you today from the people of Belfast and from every community across these islands.
“The more you try to divide us, the more united we grow. The more hate you try to stoke, the more love we will show to our neighbours.
“We stand in solidarity with the Muslim community, with the refugee community and with every community which is reeling from attack or feeling the fear of threat and intimidation.
“Belfast is a city of love. We stand as one.”
Earlier this week, Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said police were working to establish if the protests mooted on social media will materialise on the ground.
He also urged people in society to push back against the “poisonous nonsense” being propagated by those seeking to organise demonstrations against the Islamic faith, adding if they do happen they will be “policed effectively”.
Religious leaders in Northern Ireland also issued calls for calm.
Bishop of Down and Connor Alan McGuckian warned against “stoking the coals of fear and mistrust against Muslims”.
“Particularly in Northern Ireland, we have journeyed so far from a history of conflict and live now in a place that is rightly moving towards mutual respect, dialogue and tolerance,” he said.
Rev Trevor Gribben, from the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, said: “Hatred against any section of the community is indeed poisonous, and is not only wrong, but entirely anti-Christian.”
People protest in Sunderland city centre following the stabbing attacks on Monday in Southport,
On Friday, hundreds of people gathered in Keel Square in Sunderland, many of them draped in England flags, some of whom chanted support of Tommy Robinson, while others shouted insults about Islam.
Videos posted on social media appeared to show a fire at a city centre police office, which was marked permanently closed on Google Maps and was no longer listed on a police station finder on Northumbria Police’s website.
A mosque was targeted and separate footage on social media, said to have also been filmed in Sunderland, appeared to show a -man with a swastika tattoo on his back.
Officers from Northumbria Police were “subjected to serious violence” and three were taken to hospital, the force said later.
Eight people have so far been arrested for a range of offences, including violent disorder and burglary, it added.
Disorder also broke out in Southport on Tuesday evening.
Thousands of people had turned out to pay their respects to Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, at a vigil.
But violence later erupted outside a mosque in the town with 53 police officers and three police dogs injured, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer later condemning “thugs” who had travelled to the town to cause unrest.
On Wednesday evening, more than 100 protesters were arrested on Whitehall, where bottles and cans were pelted at police, while violence also broke out in Hartlepool, County Durham, and in Manchester.
The unrest poses the biggest challenge yet of Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership, evoking the scale of public disorder last seen during the 2011 riots.
On Thursday, Sir Keir announced a new “national” response to the disorder linking police forces across the country through shared intelligence and the expanded use of facial recognition.