5 h. ago More police officers hurt during fifth night of violence in Northern Ireland

The violence followed an alleged sex attack on a teenage girl in Ballymena.

Events

11 h. ago The Ballymena violence has nothing to do with ‘protecting women’. It is racism, pure and simple | Sarah Creighton

Northern Ireland has always seen high levels of violence against women and girls. Blaming migrants is a useful way to distract from thatIn 1972, loyalist paramilitaries fired bullets into the home of a Catholic woman, Sarah McClenaghan. That night she was at home with her lodger, a Protestant, and her disabled teenage son, David. After forcing her son to get his mother’s rosary beads, proving that she was Catholic, a loyalist paramilitary raped Sarah. David was tortured. The gang then shot them both, David dying of his wounds.I thought about David and Sarah as I watched rolling news of the pogroms in Ballymena. I thought about them in light of the lie that violence against women and girls has been imported to Northern Ireland via migrants or asylum seekers. It’s always been here. Continue reading...

Events

18 h. ago Petrol bombs and fireworks launched at police as Ballymena riots spread across Northern Ireland in fifth night of violence after 'alleged attempted rape of local girl, 16, by two Romanian teens'

Crowds of masked thugs gathered in Portadown where a protest had been held earlier in the evening before it descended into carnage.

Events

26 h. ago The Guardian view on riots in Northern Ireland: racist violence does not express ‘legitimate grievance’ | Editorial

Politicians must analyse the forces behind mob unrest, but not in terms that make excuses for itA reputation for political violence is one reason Northern Ireland has historically attracted fewer immigrants than the rest of the UK. In that context, increasing diversity could be read as a measure of progress; a peace dividend after the Troubles. That isn’t how it has felt to families cowering in fear of racist mobs this week. The riots started in Ballymena, ostensibly triggered by the arrest of two boys, reported to be of Romanian origin, accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl. A community vigil mutated into a racist rampage. Masked thugs targeted the local migrant population. When police came to quell the pogrom, officers were attacked with bricks, fireworks, petrol bombs. There was contagion. Windows were smashed and a fire started at a leisure centre in nearby Larne that had been used as a temporary refuge for those fleeing the Ballymena violence. There were outbreaks of di...

Events

27 h. ago Revealed: 'Boastful' Romanian wrongly arrested over 'sexual assault of girl' in Ballymena goes public to protest his innocence and says mob violence has caused his family to flee the country

The 28-year-old father-of-two named Alex said his Antrim home and car were attacked by anti-immigrant rioters while he was in custody and again a second time when he returned home.

Events

28 h. ago ‘No crisis at Stormont’, First Minister Michelle O’Neill insists

It comes after Ms O’Neill called for Communities Minister Gordon Lyons to resign over a social media post.

Politics

43 h. ago Ballymena riots: Police arrest man and woman with victim 'traumatised' by days of violence

Police in Northern Ireland have faced four consecutive days of violence in the wake of an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena that sparked riots, leaving residents terrified

Events

48 h. ago Family of girl 'sexually assaulted by Romanian teens' plead with Ballymena rioters to end violence as town braces for fourth night of chaos

Northern Ireland 's police chief Jon Boutcher said the young girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena had been 'further traumatised' by the rioting since Monday.

Events

53 h. ago How a peaceful protest erupted into nights of violence and rocked a Northern Irish community

A demonstration organised on social media called for a ‘peaceful protest to show our anger at what cannot and will not be tolerated in this town’. But after three nights of violence, terrified families are fleeing Ballymena and displaying their nationalities on their front door

Events

55 h. ago Judge warns those involved in Ballymena violence will be dealt with ‘robustly’

Three teenagers appeared in court on rioting offences.

Events

57 h. ago Watch: Homes left smashed and charred after multiple nights of violence in Ballymena

Homes have been destroyed after several nights of unrest in Northern Ireland, where rioters hurled petrol bombs, masonry and fireworks at police.

Events

58 h. ago Three nights of disorder ‘not what Northern Ireland is about’ – Benn

The Secretary of State and local political leaders have urged the violence focused on Ballymena, Co Antrim, to stop.

Politics

59 h. ago Northern Ireland riots latest: Petrol bombs and fireworks hurled at police as Ballymena violence spreads

Violence has broken out in Ballymena for the past three nights after angry mobs went on the rampage through the town’s streets

Events

3 d. ago PM ‘utterly condemns’ second night of violence after 17 officers injured in NI

Stormont ministers have made an urgent appeal for calm.

Events

3 d. ago Stormont ministers make joint appeal for end to violence in Ballymena

Seventeen police officers were injured following a second night of sustained violence in Ballymena on Tuesday.

Politics

3 d. ago Watch: Moment Ballymena rioter sets himself on fire as violence erupts for second night

Cars and properties set on fire in Ballymena as rioters hurl petrol bombs, fireworks and masonry at police officers

Events

3 d. ago Idiot rioter accidentally sets him self on fire after Molotov cocktail disaster in Ballymena

Fireworks and bottles were thrown at police in a second night of Ballymena violence but one idiot's attempt backfired spectacularly and bit him on the backside . . . literally

Events

3 d. ago Idiot rioter accidentally sets himself on fire after Molotov cocktail disaster in Ballymena

Fireworks and bottles were thrown at police in a second night of Ballymena violence but one idiot's attempt backfired spectacularly and bit him on the backside – literally

Events

3 d. ago Ballymena riots: Fireworks and petrol bombs thrown at police as violence erupts

Fireworks and petrol bombs were thrown at police as violence erupted for a second night in a row in Northern Ireland on Tuesday (11 June).

Events

3 d. ago Ballymena riots: Violence erupts for second night as police condemn 'racist thuggery'

Cars and properties set on fire in Ballymena as rioters hurl petrol bombs, fireworks and masonry at police officers

Events