A leisure centre has gone up in flames after vandals targeted the building on the third day of unrest in Northern Ireland, following an alleged sexual assault in Ballymena.
Rioters have set homes ablaze and smashed windows in the town for three days in a row, forcing many residents to flee out of fear for their safety. Many of those escaping the violence had been put up in Larne Leisure Centre, where the arson took place. Larne is just 20 miles from Ballymena.
Witnesses saw masked thugs smashing in the windows of the key community asset, before starting fires outside the building, which quickly took hold and spread to the interior. Thankfully, the families who were meant to be staying there had been relocated by the borough council.
The civil unrest that has taken hold in some areas of Northern Ireland has been roundly slammed by politicians and the police, with Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson calling the violence “racist thuggery” while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he “utterly condemns” the violence, which has injured 32 police officers.
Following the attack on Larne Leisure Centre, local Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly said in a social media post: “Larne leisure centre has been attacked by masked thugs.
“Windows smashed and fires lit nearby. Larne does not need this.”
The arson incident was just one of many that spread to other town in Northern Ireland on Wednesday, with more masked rioters starting a fire in Coleraine that rendered the town’s train tracks unusable, causing severe disruption on the Derry-Londonderry line due to the damage caused.
Meanwhile, fires were also being set in Newtownabbey, where roads were forced to shut after debris and wheelie bins were ignited.
In Ballymena, riot police faced a third night of having fireworks and other projectiles lobbed at them by the rioters. Despite the presence of dog units and multiple water cannons, PSNI have also called in reinforcement from the mainland due to the scale of disorder faced by its officers.
As night drew in on Wednesday, law enforcement squared off with the crowds near Clonavon Terrace, which has been a focal point for protests. The residential street is near where the alleged sexual assault took place over the weekend, which caused thousands to swarm into the town on Monday evening.
In live videos being shared on social media, the masked crowds could be seen throwing stones at windows in the town, where some residents have started putting up their national flags in a bid to deter the crowds from attacking their properties. However, in one video, a group could be seen smashing in the window of a home that was displaying a Union Jack.
Alliance’s Deputy Leader Eóin Tennyson MLA slammed the motives of protesters, saying: “‘Concerned’ about women and girls, while they attack women and girls. ‘Concerned’ about housing, while burning homes. ‘Concerned’ about public services, as they destroy a leisure centre.
“This has nothing to do with “legitimate concerns”. It is pure, unabated racism.”
