{"id":352130,"date":"2026-01-04T19:09:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/352130\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T19:09:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T19:09:09","slug":"ballymena-riots-six-months-on-fear-formidable-obstacles-and-official-silence-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/352130\/","title":{"rendered":"Ballymena riots six months on: fear, formidable obstacles and official silence | Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

When a mob stormed a neighbourhood in Ballymena last summer to expel families from their homes, a chilling shout echoed around the narrow streets: \u201cWhere are the foreigners?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

The hunt for immigrants in the Northern Ireland town prompted Poles, Bulgarians, Filipinos, Nigerians and other nationalities to flee or barricade their doors<\/a>. Police called the outburst of hate an attempted pogrom, one that made headlines around the world.<\/p>\n

Six months later, several houses around Clonavon Terrace are still scorched, empty shells, and the homes that remain occupied tend to have curtains drawn even during the day.<\/p>\n

Houses in Ballymena targeted during riots in June 2025 remain boarded up six months later. Photograph: Rory Carroll\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody is being very careful. It\u2019s on a knife-edge,\u201d said a health worker from Africa who declined to share his name or nationality. Another resident, from the Czech Republic, said he ventured out only when necessary. \u201cMen with masks drive up and down. They slow down and look at you.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is a bleak aftermath to three nights of mayhem <\/a>in June when hundreds of rioters hurled rocks and petrol bombs<\/a> at phalanxes of police, leaving dozens injured and turning Ballymena, a predominantly Protestant working-class town 25 miles north-west of Belfast, into a byword for intolerance.<\/p>\n

Many residents reject that description and say there is a misconception about what happened. The violence was not intended to terrorise all foreigners. Only the Roma.<\/p>\n

Other nationalities were targeted in error, said Hugh, 61, a hotel worker. \u201cWhen people are rioting, accidents can happen. Innocents get caught up in the crossfire.\u201d It was \u201cunfortunate\u201d that the community had to resort to such methods, he said. \u201cThey needed them people out. It seemed the only way. I think it\u2019s better they [the Roma] stay away.\u201d<\/p>\n

A \u201chardline\u201d element lashed out at all foreigners but most in the mob were focused on the Roma, said another Ballymena native, a man aged 40. He was ambivalent about the riots. \u201cShameful, a sad thing, but that\u2019s what happens when you try to mix people too quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if the violence constituted ethnic cleansing, he nodded. \u201cYes. A certain group of people were made to feel not welcome. And the town is better for it. There used to be hundreds of Roma around here, now you don\u2019t see any.\u201d Residents who appreciated the outcome preferred to not dwell on the method, he said. \u201cIt will be swept under the rug. People don\u2019t want to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A house in Ballymena remains in ruins six months after its Roma occupants fled a riot in June 2025. Photograph: Rory Carroll\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

It is a common refrain: the riots were ugly but an overdue response to antisocial and criminal behaviour. The \u201cgood\u201d foreigners who remain are welcome to stay and continue working in healthcare, and meat and bus factories.<\/p>\n

The sense of mission accomplished tinged with unease may partly explain why members of Mid and East Antrim borough council \u2013 the Guardian approached all the main parties and several independents \u2013 did not respond to requests for comment. Asked if any representative might speak, a council spokesperson responded: \u201cThe council will not be putting anyone forward for interview at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

While 95% of Ballymena\u2019s population is white, a disproportionate number of Northern Ireland\u2019s 1,500-strong Roma population \u2013 740 people, or almost half \u2013 lived in the town and nearby areas, according to the 2021 census.<\/p>\n

Since then Ballymena\u2019s Roma population more than doubled to between 1,500 and 2,000, according to one source with links to the community. \u201cThey want to build a life just like anyone else. They work hard in the factories.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the concentration in the Clonavon area, where landlords packed tenants into terrace properties, and where there is a tendency for men to congregate on footpaths for much of the day, left local girls and women feeling intimidated. Many also complained that the clusters of men did not step aside and thus obliged passersby to step on to the road \u2013 an ostensibly minor grievance that nevertheless cropped up in several interviews.<\/p>\n

The arrest of two men last year on suspicion of human trafficking and controlling prostitution<\/a> fuelled overblown allegations of Roma criminality, creating a febrile mood. The rioting flared after two 14-year-old Roma boys were accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.<\/p>\n

Unrest spread to Larne, Portadown and other towns, which led to a rise in race-hate incidents: the 347 incidents recorded in June were the second highest monthly level in Northern Ireland on record. The annual number of race incidents (2,048) and race crimes (1,280) for the 12 months preceding October are the third highest since the data series began in 2004-05.<\/p>\n

Amnesty International called 2025 a \u201cshameful year\u201d for the region. Behind every statistic there was a real person or family left living in fear, said Patrick Corrigan, the organisation\u2019s Northern Ireland director. \u201cYet too many politicians have echoed anti-migrant misinformation that provides the backdrop to these attacks, rather than stand with the victims of hate crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month the two Roma boys who were accused of rape were released from juvenile custody after prosecutors dropped all charges<\/a>, saying: \u201cThe test for prosecution is no longer met on evidential grounds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of prompting consideration that the boys might be innocent, in Ballymena the decision prompted accusations that the Public Prosecution Service was the \u201cpaedophile protection service\u201d. A Facebook group with 10,000 followers dedicated to action against \u201cRoma gang masters\u201d said that if the boys\u2019 families returned to Ballymena \u201cwe will find out\u201d. It urged members to seek a third alleged attacker, who is no longer sought by authorities. \u201cMaybe they\u2019re not looking any more, but we certainly still are.\u201d<\/p>\n

A veteran loyalist activist in his 60s who has tried to calm tensions spoke of formidable obstacles. \u201cOur biggest enemy is Facebook. It\u2019s toxic. The war between republicans and loyalists is over but unfortunately this is a new war with a different set of warriors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many loyalists, including those with a tradition of labour activism, are keen to counter misinformation, said Peter Shirlow, the director of the University of Liverpool\u2019s Institute of Irish Studies, who found a receptive audience when he challenged myths about immigration at a workshop in Ballymena. \u201cSome people are taking an awful lot of flak for standing up for migrant rights,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There are no official statistics but it is estimated that almost three-quarters of the Roma population fled after the riots \u2013 and that since September most have quietly returned but avoided the Clonavon area and dispersed across other neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re hoping for the best and doing what they can to keep their heads down,\u201d said Jacqueline Monahan, coordinator of the Roma support hub in Belfast. Roma residents approached by the Guardian declined to speak.<\/p>\n

A tense calm prevails. Rioters claimed victory after purging Clonavon of Roma but more than 90 people have been charged with riot-related offences, which has tempered calls for further all-out mobilisation. Instead, small groups patrol neighbourhoods to monitor and intimidate. The message is clear: they know where the foreigners are.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When a mob stormed a neighbourhood in Ballymena last summer to expel families from their homes, a chilling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":352131,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-352130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=352130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/352130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/352131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=352130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=352130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=352130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}