Rioting broke out in Northern Ireland for a second night following Monday’s knife attack in Belfast, with masked protesters lighting fires and hurling bricks at police, who responded by firing water cannons.
The chaos unfolded in Glengormley in Newtownabbey, northwest Belfast, just hours after the family of the attack victim, Stephen Ogilvie, appealed for calm in the wake of the torching of homes and vehicles across the city on Tuesday.
Responding to the latest disorder along Antrim Road, near the Sandyknowes roundabout, the relatives of Mr Ogilvie, who is said to be in stable condition, voiced their “disgust” at the scenes. Earlier yesterday, Hadi Alodid, 30, had appeared at Belfast Magistrates’ Court charged with attempted murder over Monday’s knife attack in which Mr Ogilvie lost an eye.
Despite pleas from Mr Ogilvie’s family and the drafting in of 200 extra police officers to deal with any disorder, videos shared on social media first showed masked gangs attempting to march to a hotel in Glengormley, where they were met with riot police.
Pushed back down Antrim Road, the protesters dressed in black broke up parts of the pavement and the walls of suburban homes to throw objects at the police, who responded with water cannons, soaking those who got close.
As the face-off continued between the police and protesters, some built a bonfire with bins in the middle of the road while spectators watched on in what appeared more a set piece for television than a spontaneous expression of political intent.
Among those taking part, a youth wearing a full face ski mask at one point asked two local women where he could buy a drink. When they replied it was a half-a-mile walk, he said “ugh, I need a lager.”
A street-cleaning vehicle was also set alight in a Department for Infrastructure depot, while rioters were also seen breaking open a metal fence to access the Sandyknowes Wastewater Pumping Station.
Local people said they believed that the motivation for the latest disorder was as much an expression of anger whipped up by social media against immigrants as it was an opportunity to “have a bit of a punch up“.
The violence in Newtownabbey appeared to be the flashpoint in Northern Ireland, where despite gatherings at the Parliament Buildings in the Stormont estate in Belfast and Ulster University in Coleraine, there was little unrest elsewhere in the country.
In Lendrick Street, which saw houses gutted after cars were set alight on Tuesday, there was a heavy police presence. Hours earlier it was the scene of migrants being rescued from homes, but on Wednesday night it was quiet.
Residents refused to be filmed, but a man named Glen, who watched the world media picking over the wreckage of his neighbourhood, said that the violence had “been brewing for a while”.
He said: “There’s no excuse for what happened here. Young people were terrified. Kiddies were in homes that caught fires when the cars were torched.
“They attacked this street because it had more foreigners on it than others around here. But they’re good people. One of them is a pastor who comes around with hampers of food,” he said.
The rioting began late on Tuesday as Alodid, who arrived in the UK in 2023, was charged with attempted murder in connection with the stabbing incident in the city.
The family of Mr Ogilvie had urged people not to engage in violent protest after the night of bedlam on Tuesday.
After Wednesday’s unrest, they said: “We have been left feeling disgusted by the scenes that unfolded across Northern Ireland in the wake of what happened. We want to make it absolutely clear that to do this in response is not supported by our family, and peaceful protest is only ever the way forward.
“We have many migrants who make a deeply valuable contribution to our country, including from within our healthcare system and hospitality sector, and we depend on them to make our country work. We do not want this terrible tragedy to be used to divide people or fuel hostility – do not do this in the name of our loved one, as we do not share the same values.”
Along with additional police officers on the streets in the region on Wednesday, public transport was suspended and some schools closed early.
Sir Keir Starmer vowed to “crack down on anyone who is fuelling this division”. The prime minister said the rioting in Belfast was “shocking and completely unacceptable”.
“It is clear that people were targeted last night because of their background and I will not tolerate it,” he said. “Those responsible will feel the full force of the law.”
On Wednesday, it emerged the the UK returned one asylum seeker to Ireland under a post-Brexit deal signed in 2020.
The government said it was now intensifying immigration enforcement to track down and remove illegal immigrants from Northern Ireland.
Alodid entered Northern Ireland across the Irish border in February 2023 having flown to Dublin from Paris. He claimed asylum upon arrival and in September 2023 was granted leave to remain in the UK until 2028.
