2 days ago
How tinderbox Northern Ireland exploded into anti-migrant riots
Inside the charred remains of an end-of-terrace house on Ballymena's Queen Street, the smoke alarm could still be heard bleeping in the wrecked living room.
A few doors down, a smashed window revealed the words 'Little Prince' on a cot inside an abandoned child's bedroom, while nearby front doors lay ajar after being battered down when properties were besieged by masked youths shouting, 'Where are the foreigners?'
The scene was the result of a second night of anti-migrant rioting, which had swept the small Northern Irish town following the alleged attempted rape of a schoolgirl at the hands of two Romanian-speaking teenagers.
Residents have spoken of long-running tensions with the Roma community, but the incident on Saturday lit the touchpaper for riots.
Non-Roma immigrants have resorted to putting up signs displaying their nationality such as 'Filipino lives here', or even the King's coronation memorabilia and crockery featuring Elizabeth II, in a bid to deter thugs hunting migrants.
Even those born and bred in Ballymena had resorted to similar attempts to protect their homes.
'I have two flags on my house and I've never ever done that in the 28 years I lived there,' said one resident as she headed home to her redbrick property expecting another night of violence.
Vladimir, 33, a factory worker from Slovakia, cleared debris from his living room after his home was targeted because he was not born in the UK.
'The tension was there and it was like TNT,' he said. 'There have been tensions for some time with the Roma, and with the girl allegedly being assaulted it escalates.
'It was the last drop and the authorities, along with government and the courts, didn't take it seriously enough so people had to take it into their own hands.'
He added: 'In Clonavon Terrace, they stand around, there is mess everywhere, throwing bikes, there are piles of garbage and rumours of petty thefts and adults snatching kids' phones.'
He showed CCTV footage of a black metal bar stool coming through the front window of the terraced property he and his girlfriend Pavlina, 35, an agency worker from the Czech Republic, share with their 11-year-old daughter and two Jack Russels.
The stool, hurled by masked youths, was followed by a heavy tree planter hours after they had been warned by police to leave or stay in the living room, making it easier to escape if the house was torched.
'It was not random, the way they operate,' he added. 'They know they roughly know where people are from.
'It's not racist, because it's not about skin colour, but discriminatory yes. It is very obvious they are trying to hound people out of the area and they are being quite successful.'
The violence began on Monday following a vigil in support of the girl who had been assaulted, which was followed by disorder echoing the riots seen after the Southport murders.
It began in Clonavon Terrace, where the alleged assault took place, with homes torched and cars set alight as rioters clashed with police armed with protective gear and attempting to restore calm with their armoured Land Rover Tangis.
Three people had to be saved by firefighters after four houses were set alight.
On Tuesday, the violence moved elsewhere in the County Antrim town, which is home to 31,205 residents, as rioters targeted houses where they believed foreigners lived.
Officers were met with a hail of petrol bombs, bricks and fireworks and were forced to fire baton rounds and bring in water cannons and dogs as cars were again set on fire in scenes described by police as 'racist thuggery'.
Sporadic incidents of disorder were also seen in other parts of Northern Ireland and a total of 30 officers have been injured since violence began and five people arrested.
Yesterday, the Police Service of Northern Ireland requested support from colleagues in the rest of the UK as it brought in extra officers and equipment to the areas where unrest had erupted.
Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, said he 'utterly condemns' the violence while Jon Boutcher, the PSNI's chief constable, warned the disorder risked undermining the criminal justice process.
Ballymena was 95.1 per cent white at the time of the latest census, with just 4.9 per cent of the population from another ethnic background, with Roma the largest minority.
Although far less diverse than the rest of the UK, Ballymena's population has changed significantly over the last decade when previously just one in 50 residents were from a non-white background.
Unemployment is above average and there are long-standing tensions with the Roma community in Ballymena, which is accused by some of failing to integrate into the town.
On Clonavon Terrace locals from around the town visited, curious to see the damage, while those actually living on the street feared that years of tensions between largely loyalist Protestant communities and some Roma residents would result in their homes being targeted.
Andrei Boteanu, 32, a factory worker who is Romanian but not Roma, pointed at the remains of a redbrick house where the arrested teenagers are believed to have lived. 'They threw the bins inside, it took all night to burn,' he said.
Mr Boteanu feared they would do the same to his own house but added that he was nor surprised tensions had turned violent.
'Before there were many cars coming there, there were 20 people inside. There were rats, garbage, and mattresses lying around. It was messy, they were all on benefits.
'We always complain about them but nobody does anything. We didn't know that things would go so far.'
He added: 'I'm worried because they don't know who lives in houses, it can be anyone. But I support local people, even if it was not right what local people did last night and the other night I don't blame them for nothing. I would be the same, it's a wee girl.'
Around 100 yards down the road, Emma Little-Pengelly, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, was harshly criticised as she met residents of the affected street who vented their frustrations about migration and worries their houses would not survive the night.
'I have constantly been putting in complaints, nobody wants to know,' one said. 'We are not racist.'
'I worked 30 years in medicine, my house is half the price I paid for it,' another told the DUP politician.
Despite the communal fears over immigration, many fear that the violence had become mindless.
One woman claimed residents had been threatened when pleading with rioters to leave the homes alone.
'I've been terrified,' she said. 'I've slept on the sofa so I can go out the front door quickly.'
