More than 40 police officers have been injured so far after violence in Ballymena went on for a third night.
The rioting began on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area.
Several homes and businesses have been damaged, with windows shattered and masonry broken and flung at officers.
Worse, several homes have been set alight in what are being treated as racially-motivated hate crimes, and the disorder has spread to other Northern Irish towns.
Metro explains how the disorder began.
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What is happening in Ballymena?
There have been three nights of rioting in Ballymena initially sparked after a girl was sexually assaulted in the area.
On Monday night several homes and businesses were damaged, with windows and doors smashed, and four houses were set alight leading to three people being evacuated.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said 15 officers were injured on Monday night, some of whom needed hospital treatment, and two police vehicles were damaged.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were seen forcing their way inside homes, in case residents were trapped.
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday there was also a report of arson in the Tobar Park area of Cullybackey.
A petrol bomb was reportedly thrown at a car, which then set alight and caused damage to a nearby home where a woman and two children lived.
There weren’t any reports of injuries, but it is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime.
There was an uneasy peace throughout the day on Tuesday, but rioting began again later in the evening.
Riot police with shields were deployed to the Clonavon Terrace area of the town.
Five people have been arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour and are still in custody this morning after rioters threw petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks at officers.
Officers used rubber bullets and a water cannon to try and disperse crowds, but despite this businesses and homes were attacked and damaged and a number of vehicles were set alight.
Other protests took place in areas of Belfast, Lisburn, Coleraine and Newtownabbey earlier in the evening, some of which experienced disorder.
Two bins were set alight and bottles and masonry were thrown at police in the Sunnylands area of Carrickfergus by a group of 20-30 young people.
A man was arrested on suspicion of disorderly behaviour in Newtownabbey after bins were set alight.
There were 17 officers injured on Tuesday, some of whom were hospitalised.
On Wednesday night the rioting began again, with petrol bombs, a hatchet and masonry among items thrown at officers.
Police used the water cannon, plastic baton rounds and police dogs to try and disperse the crowds.
The unrest has now spread to other towns, including Coleraine and Larne – where the leisure centre was set on fire by masked vandals who also smashed windows.
The facility had temporarily been used as emergency shelter for those in urgent need following the disturbances in Ballymena.
By Wednesday, six people had been arrested for public order offences, with one charged.
PSNI have not yet confirmed if there were any more arrests or police officers injured after the violence on Wednesday evening.
Nine more officers were injured on Wednesday, though none of them required hospital treatment, taking the total number of injured police officers to 41.
Why are people in Ballymena rioting?
The two nights of riots come after an earlier peaceful protest on Monday in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault.
Two 14-year-old boys, thought to be Romanian, appeared in court charged with attempted oral rape. It reportedly took place in the Clonavon Terrace area on Saturday evening.
The boys appeared at Coleraine magistrates court on Monday via videolink from a juvenile justice centre, where they both pleaded not guilty.
A Romanian interpreter was in court to read the charges to both defendants.
They were remanded in custody until their next appearance at the youth court at Ballymena magistrates court on July 2.
Around 2,500 people gathered in the park on Monday before moving towards Clonavon Terrace.
The men, women and children marched along Larne Street and Queen Street – but the situation erupted into violence as fires were lit, a boat was overturned and homes vandalised.
Local MP Jim Allister said tensions had been growing over immigration in the area for some time.
Mr Allister, leader of the TUV (Traditional Unionist Voice) Party, said on Tuesday: ‘Within Ballymena there has been rising concerns about the sheer scale of migration into the town and that would have been a factor in the wholly peaceful protest.
‘All that to be distinguished from the wanton violence which then followed, with obviously a minority of that peaceful crowd wanting to take advantage of that to visit violence which wasn’t wanted or warranted, hence the scenes that we saw.
‘Xenophobia collides with legitimate fear’
Ian Acheson is a senior advisor at the Counter Extremism Project.
He told Metro: ‘The violence in Ballymena is a grim illustration of what happens when xenophobia collides with legitimate fears across the island of Ireland about what uncontrolled and unresourced migration is doing to local communities.
‘We need to be clear that racist thugs and those who cleave to no ideology except the gleeful opportunity to burn their own communities and attack police should be identified, prosecuted and locked up.
‘But it is ironic that social media and some of the mainstream outlets is saturated with a requirement that commentators pass a condemnation purity test in ways never previously applied to the terrorism that has disfigured society in Northern Ireland.
‘There can be no nuance applied to the nihilistic thugs that hijacked a peaceful protest following the charging of two foreign nationals with the rape of a local girl.
‘At the same time, condemning everyone in Ballymena who either attended the protests or the vast majority who stayed home horrified by the violence as racist, does the work of extremists for them.
‘Northern Ireland is the litmus test for the sectarian violence that I fear is to come across the rest of these islands if politicians fail to respond to valid and justifiable concerns about demographic changes causing social unrest across Ireland.
‘It is significant that the tribal alliances of loyalism and republicanism that once polarised communities are now coming together in a common cause of anti-migrant extremism.
‘People who ignore these new and dangerous alliances are leaving an open goal for violent extremism to regain its potency. That is something we must all fight against.’
‘It is very distressing to see scenes of violence on the streets of Ballymena.
‘It is easier to start than to stop these things. There has been a bit of authorities not wanting to face up to the racial background of some of this over the years.
‘That unchecked migration which is beyond what the town can cope with, is a source of past and future tensions; that is the reality of it.
‘Those who came onto the street last night in the main had a perfectly legitimate purpose and cause of being there.’
Mr Allister said he had spoken to the girl’s family, and they said they did not want to see violence.
He added: ‘Sadly the narrative has been diverted, and it has been diverted by those who wrongly and foolishly involved in violence and made the story something that what it otherwise should be.
‘My message is the violence should stop. The concerns are there, I am certainly aware of them, I hear them and there needs now to be a period of calm and justice needs to take its course.’
Where is Ballymena located?
Ballymena is a town in County Antrim with a population of about 31,000 people, located about 28 miles north-west of Belfast.
Traditionally a market town, it’s the seventh largest town in Northern Ireland by population.
Further rioting took place in Larne, a port town in County Antrim home to about 18,000 people and about 22 miles north of Belfast.
On Wednesday night, further disorder erupted in a number of other locations:
- Newtonabbey, a settlement north of Belfast city centre
- Carrickfergus, a town around 11 miles from Belfast
- Coleraine, a town about 28 miles north of Ballymena
- Antrim, 11 miles south of Ballymena
- Lisburn, a city eight miles south west of Belfast
How the UK reacted to the Ballymena riots
The rioting has drawn resounding condemnation from politicians and the police force alike.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: ‘It’s absolutely vital that the PSNI are given the time they need to investigate the incidents concerned rather than face mindless attacks as they seek to bring peace and order to keep people safe.’
A senior police officer took it a step further, describing the disorder as ‘racist thuggery’, with deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly calling the rioting in Ballymena ‘unacceptable thuggery’.
Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said on Tuesday: ‘Last night saw significant sustained disorder in Ballymena. This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police.
‘I want to condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. It has no place in our society and should be loudly condemned by all right-thinking people.’
Northern Ireland’s First Minister condemned the ‘racist and sectarian attacks’, saying the rioting must stop immediately.
Michelle O’Neill said: ‘Those responsible for this violence bring nothing to our communities but hatred, fear and division.
‘No one, now or ever should feel the need to place a sticker on their door to identify their ethnicity just to avoid being targeted.’
Labour frontbencher Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent warned it will take years to ‘rebuild what has been broken’ following nights of unrest.
She said the scenes of disorder had ‘no place’ in Northern Ireland, adding: ‘The attacks on police officers as they work to keep people safe and on property are wholly unacceptable.
‘My thoughts and prayers are with those officers still receiving treatment, and with the communities across Northern Ireland who woke up this morning very scared.
‘This is not something that is now going to be solved tomorrow.
‘Community engagement efforts will have to continue for months and years to rebuild what has been broken over the last 24 hours.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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