Fire at leisure centre on third night of disorder in Northern Ireland

Independent

a day ago

A fire broke out at Larne Leisure Centre following vandalism at the facility on the third night 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.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said the facility had been designated as an emergency rest centre for those in urgent need following disturbances in nearby Ballymena but the families had been safely relocated elsewhere.
Police and firefighters worked to bring the blaze under control on Wednesday night.
The fire coincided with a third night of public disorder in Ballymena, 30 minutes away from Larne.
Dozens of police officers have been injured during the sustained unrest while multiple properties and vehicles have been set on fire.
The PSNI deployed riot police for a third night in Ballymena as a significant crowd gathered around the Clonavon Terrace area.
At least one protester was struck by a plastic baton round fired by police while officers also used a water cannon on the crowd.
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, who warned they would fire the plastic baton rounds at violent individuals, also used dog units and drones in their response to the gathering.
Riot police with shields advanced on the crowd to disperse them down Bridge Street in the town.
They came under sustained attack as those participating in disorder hurled petrol bombs, masonry and fireworks at police vehicles and officers standing nearby.
Elsewhere, social media footage appeared to show an established fire on train tracks running through Coleraine.
Earlier, a senior officer said the 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 charged.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer 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.
Mr Henderson said the force had requested about 80 officers through mutual aid.
Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the Commons, Sir Keir condemned the 'mindless attacks' against police.
In a joint statement, ministers from across the Stormont powersharing Executive, which includes Sinn Fein, 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 Fein vice-president Ms O'Neill told reporters in Belfast: 'It's pure racism, there is no other way to dress it up.'
Ms Little-Pengelly described the scenes in Ballymena as 'unacceptable thuggery'.
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.
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.
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.