When children were evacuated from a swimming lesson at a Co Antrim leisure centre this week, they walked out to find masked men banging on the windows.
The youngest fleeing the Larne complex – which had provided temporary shelter to displaced immigrants – was six-years-old.
“The fear those kids experienced going out to their families has left them traumatised,” said Danielle Hill, swim coach and Irish Olympian, who escorted the children to safety before the building was set on fire on Wednesday evening.
Forty-eight hours earlier, in a terraced house 30 kilometres away in Ballymena, a mother hid her babies in the attic as rioters kicked in their door and set fire to curtains. Older children hid in wardrobes.
After being quoted up to €25,000 for floors, this handy Wicklow couple did it themselves for €1,500
Ireland’s grocery prices are still soaring. How can that be?
Living next door to dereliction: ‘It’s been rotting for years … Rats all over the place’
A Gaeltacht tragedy: ‘I never would have sent her if I thought anything was wrong’
Outside, police were attacked with hatchets and petrol bombs by a rampaging mob.
In a week that has seen violent disorder erupt across Northern Ireland, 14 migrant families have been forced to seek emergency accommodation after being burnt out of their homes. Dozens received assistance from the Housing Executive.
“Bigots and racists” were blamed by Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Jon Boutcher for four consecutive nights of unrest. The disorder began in Ballymena on Monday evening following a peaceful protest over an alleged sexual assault.
Two teenage boys appeared in court earlier that day charged with the attempted rape of a girl in the Co Antrim town. The 14-year-olds confirmed their names through a Romanian interpreter. They deny the offences.
Clonavon Terrace, a street close to the town centre that faces on to the rear of Ballymena police station, resembled a war zone by Tuesday morning.
It is absolutely ridiculous that in 2025 people are having to identify themselves with signs on their door
— Philip McGuigan
Six homes were set alight and many others were vandalised the previous evening.
By teatime on Tuesday, Windows that were not boarded up along the row of former mill houses were instead filled with Union Jack flags, British royal family memorabilia, and red, white and blue bunting.
Cornelia Amarei from Romania said it was the first time in her seven years living in the street that she put a Union flag in her home.
“We were told it would protect us from any more attacks,” she told The Irish Times.
They were trying to keep her eight-year-old grandson, who is autistic, safe.
“He needs routine so we can’t move from here. We put his earphones on him at a room at the back of the house,” said Ms Amarei, who works at a manufacturing company in the town.
Pre-printed black and white signs stating “Locals Live Here” were stuck on front doors throughout the town by Wednesday evening.
Social media was awash with disinformation about immigration figures and the impact on public services. One Facebook group, with more than 5,000 followers, urged people to share addresses of “locals” they wanted to protect – and of those they wanted to target.
“It is akin to something from 1930s Germany,” said North Antrim Sinn Féin MLA, Philip McGuigan.
“It is absolutely ridiculous that in 2025 people are having to identify themselves with signs on their door.”
Mr McGuigan says lies from some political parties are “feeding into an anti-immigration sentiment” and playing on people’s fears.
His comments follow remarks made by the MP for the area, Jim Allister, leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV), in the aftermath of the attacks.
Mr Allister condemned the violence but told the BBC that underlying tensions in Ballymena had been “there for a long time” because there was “an oversubscription of migrants who had been placed there”.
When asked what evidence he was drawing on, Mr Allister said he had canvassed a street with 50 houses and came “upon five local, if I can call them that, residents of Ballymena”.
His statistics “don’t stack up”, argues Mr McGuigan, pointing to Stormont Assembly research showing that Northern Ireland is the “least diverse part of the UK”.
Just 3.5 per cent (65,600 people) of the population are from a minority ethnic group. That compares to 18.3 per cent in England and Wales, and 12.9 per cent in Scotland, according to the Assembly report on migration.
Police Scotland was asked on Tuesday and it still hasn’t arrived
— Jon Burrows
In Ballymena, there are no registered asylum seekers in the entire Mid and East Antrim local government area, which takes in Ballymena and Larne.
Of Ballymena’s 24,295 population, 94 per cent of people are white, while just 6 per cent belong to other ethnic groups, according to the last census.
“Bottom line, these are not big figures,” says Mr McGuigan.
“Yes, there is a foreign national population in Ballymena, but it is there for a reason in that local industry and local businesses need people coming in to work.
“Brexit had an impact here in that businesses struggled to find workers.”
To date, 63 PSNI officers have been injured in the disturbances after coming under “sustained attack with heavy masonry and fireworks”.
As of Friday afternoon, there have been 17 arrests, with three teenagers – the youngest aged 15 – refused bail and remanded in custody for riot-related offences. Of the 17 people arrested, 13 face criminal charges.
Violent protests moved to Portadown in Co Armagh on Thursday, on a night when there was relative calm in Ballymena amid heavy rainfall.
Police Scotland has agreed to deploy extra resources to the PSNI as part of a mutual aid arrangement.
“What the PSNI are struggling with now is any kind of spontaneity – they just don’t have the resources available,” says Jon Burrows, a retired senior PSNI officer.
He believes the policing arrangement only works for big pre-planned events such as the G8 summit.
“Police Scotland was asked on Tuesday and it still hasn’t arrived. It could be next week – in which case the horse has already bolted,” he said.
Photographic images of suspects should be released by the PSNI more quickly – ideally within 48 hours – to show that “actions have consequences”, according to Mr Burrows.
I have been flooded with messages for speaking up against the racist violence
— Danielle Hill
The use of social media to mobilise rioters and spread disinformation should also be challenged on platforms like TikTok – as opposed to “the PSNI website and newspapers”.
Danielle Hill is determined to resume coaching at Larne Swimming Club and last night met the families of children affected by the disorder.
The Olympian, who represented Ireland at the Tokyo and Paris games and took gold at the European Championships last year, has been overwhelmed by the support she has received since condemning the violence.
“As someone who swims for Ireland, who lives in a street flagged with British flags for the Twelfth [of July celebrations], I come to Larne dressed in my Olympic kit that says Ireland on my back and I’ve always been accepted,” she said.
“I have been flooded with messages for speaking up against the racist violence – which had nothing to do about the protection of women and girls – instead of being a bystander.”
Some of the children she coaches are from ethnic minority backgrounds. One child is “probably going to be our next [big] thing,” she adds.
“Our main mission is getting back to normal for the children’s sake and rewriting the script to ensure the leisure centre is full of great memories for them.
“I met the families to help everyone come together and let them know they are not alone in this. For now, we will await our return to the pool.”
