Why are there riots in Ballymena?

More than 30 police officers have been injured so far after two nights of violence in Ballymena.

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.

So far 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.

Metro explains how the disorder began.

What is happening in Ballymena?

There have been two 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, bringing the total number of injured police to 32 over the last two days.

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.’

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