“Terrified” immigrants are considering leaving Northern Ireland as the province was gripped by violence for the third night in a row.
Rioting first broke out in Ballymena on Monday, after two teenagers reportedly of Romanian origin were charged following an alleged sexual assault in the Antrim town.
After two nights of rioting in Ballymena, the violence has now spread to the nearby town of Larne, where a leisure centre was set on fire by masked men on Wednesday evening.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Belfast-based journalist Amanda Ferguson said the centre was attacked while people were inside.
“At the time the centre was attacked, people had been taking part in yoga classes and swimming lessons,” she said.
“I spoke to some of the women who had been at the classes and they were left really scared about what had happened and had to be ushered out the backdoor of the leisure centre.
“So, I’m sure this isn’t the last we’ve heard about this.”
Police in Ballymena. Picture by: Alamy.com.The Police Service of Northern Ireland was also called out after fires were lit in Newtownabbey, while Translink has warned of “severe delays and disruption" because of potential damage to the tracks between Derry and Coleraine.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill has condemned the violence as “abhorrent” and "racist and sectarian" in nature.
'I saw a petrol bomb ignite across three PSNI vehicles... I turn to my right, and there's a toddler on their parent's shoulders...'
Migrant families have started to flee Ballymena as violence erupted for a third night in the Antrim town, with more cars and properties destroyed.… pic.twitter.com/lwaQf4mHke
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) June 12, 2025
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher said his officers were dealing with "mindless violence".
Speaking in the House of Commons, North Antrim MP Jim Allister, whose constituency includes Ballymena, said he was "appalled" at what had taken place.
He added that the British Government should be aware of “underlying tensions” in the area, which he blamed on “uncontrolled and often undocumented immigration”.
Raising the unrest in Ballymena & the issues caused by undocumented immigrants in the Commons #JimAllister #TUV pic.twitter.com/9KrIaqZnr1
— Jim Allister (@JimAllister) June 11, 2025
“We know that happy people don’t riot but there’s been a conflation between complaints around access to public services and housing with racism,” Ms Ferguson.
“And the PSNI has been very upfront about the fact that they’re seeing pure, unadulterated hate from people.
“Overnight, we’ve heard from Victim Support NI, saying that they’re concerned that there hasn’t been a lot of signposting to victims that there’s support out there for them if they needed it.”
Police in Ballymena. Picture by: Alamy.com.During the riots in Ballymena, many local residents took to placing flags in the windows of their homes to indicate their nationality - in the belief that the rioters only wanted to attack people from certain ethnic groups.
Whether they were targeted or not, Ms Ferguson said many immigrants now plan to leave the town.
“They’re definitely leaving Ballymena but they’re considering whether they leave Northern Ireland, whether they leave the island of Ireland as a whole,” she said.
“They’re just terrified.
“Some members of the Filipino community, who would perhaps be viewed more favourably as an ethnic minority group in Ballymena than some other groups - such as people from a Romanian background - they are saying that even though they’re being told by people in an absurd kind of way that they’re not the target, they feel scared and they feel under threat.
“It really has been a thoroughly depressing episode in this part of the world.”
Five people have been arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour.
Main image: A police officer in Larne. Picture by: Alamy.com.
