Fire at leisure centre on third night of disorder in Ballymena

Irish Examiner

19 hours ago

A fire broke out at Larne Leisure Centre following vandalism at the facility during several nights of disorder in Northern Ireland.
Masked individuals smashed windows at the leisure centre in Co Antrim on Wednesday and set fires outside which spread inside.
The attack coincided with a third night of public disorder in the town of Ballymena, 30 minutes away from Larne.
Local Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly said in a social media post: 'Larne leisure centre has been attacked by masked thugs.
'Windows smashed and fires lit nearby. Larne does not need this.'
The PSNI deployed riot police in Ballymena for a third night as a significant crowd gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area.
Demonstrators who gathered on Bridge Street near the residential area were told to disperse shortly before 9pm after a firework was thrown at officers. Officers also used dog units and drones in their response to the gathering.
Riot police with shields advanced on the crowd to disperse them. Missiles were thrown at officers in the Clonavon Terrace area on Wednesday night.
Earlier, a senior officer said the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) had requested support from colleagues in the rest of the UK following further violence in Ballymena.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the force would be bringing extra officers, vehicles and equipment to areas where unrest has flared.
He said there were disgraceful scenes in Belfast, Lisburn, Coleraine, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey on Tuesday, as businesses, homes and cars were attacked and damaged.
By Wednesday, six individuals had been arrested for public order offences, and one was charged.
Over 30 police officers injured
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he 'utterly condemns' violence which left 32 police officers injured after the second night of disturbances.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher has warned that the rioting 'risks undermining' the criminal justice process into an allegation of a sex attack on a teenage girl in Ballymena at the weekend.
Stormont ministers have also made an urgent appeal for calm and said the justice process had to be allowed to take its course.
Providing an update on the policing operation on Wednesday, Mr Henderson said: 'We are taking steps to increase available resources and are surging a significant number of extra officers, vehicles and equipment to those areas where the rioting is taking place.
'This will have an impact on our community, this will take away vital resources needed to police other areas.' He said they have requested about 80 officers through mutual aid.
Riot police block a road in Ballymena following a second night of violence in Ballymena Picture: Jonathan McCambridge/PA Wire
Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Mr Starmer condemned the 'mindless attacks' against police.
'I utterly condemn the violence that we have seen overnight in Ballymena and in other parts of Northern Ireland, including against PSNI officers,' Mr Starmer told MPs.
'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.' In a joint statement, ministers from across the Stormont powersharing Executive, which includes Sinn Féin, DUP, Alliance Party and UUP, said those involved in disorder have nothing to offer society but 'division and disorder'.
First Minister Michelle O'Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly later appeared together to voice their condemnation.
Sinn Féin vice-president Ms O'Neill told reporters in Belfast: 'It's pure racism, there is no other way to dress it up.' She said ministers stood full-square with the young girl who was subject to the alleged sex attack but added the criminal justice system must be allowed to deal with that case.
'Separate to that is the racism that we're seeing… people being firebombed out of their homes, people having their doors knocked in, having their windows being smashed, families being intimidated,' Ms O'Neill added.
'That is absolutely unacceptable and everything that needs to be done to bring it to an end is our focus in terms of the engagement we have with the PSNI.'
Ms Little-Pengelly described the scenes in Ballymena as 'unacceptable thuggery', adding: 'We've been in contact with the chief constable, and in constant contact with the PSNI throughout last night in terms of what was happening on the ground.
'I think today is about sending a very clear message that violence is wrong, it is entirely unacceptable. It must stop.'
With the protests focused in predominantly loyalist areas in Ballymena, Ms O'Neill said she did not believe it would be helpful for her to visit in the current context.
A police car drives past a burnt-out overturned car on the street following a second night of violence in Ballymena.
'Violence needs to stop'
DUP MLA Ms Little-Pengelly met residents in the town on Wednesday and said the local community are in fear and wanted the violence to stop.
'The key message here today is around that violence, and that the violence needs to stop, that's what the community wants to put across, and that's why I'm here to send that very clear and united message from right throughout the community and local residents for that to stop,' she said.
Police said their officers came under sustained attack over a number of hours with multiple petrol bombs, heavy masonry, bricks and fireworks thrown in their direction in the Clonavon Terrace area of Ballymena on Tuesday night.
The PSNI deployed riot police, fired plastic baton rounds, and used water cannon as well as dog units as part of its response to the disorder.
Police also reported that 'sporadic disorder' had also occurred in Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus, as well as incidents in north Belfast.
The violence began around Clonavon Terrace on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest which was organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area.
Two teenage boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged.