Stormont Assembly to be recalled this week in wake of anti-immigrant riot in Belfast

Belfast

MLAs will discuss a motion condemning “criminal damage and targeting of businesses in recent days”.

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THE NORTHERN IRELAND Assembly will be recalled later this week to discuss violent scenes after an anti-immigration protest in Belfast.

Several businesses were attacked during the violence on Saturday and business owners said the Islamic community was deliberately targeted.

Four men appeared in court today to face charges linked to the violence.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said this evening they are aware of social media posts calling for protests across Northern Ireland in the week ahead.

The PSNI said officers will monitor the situation and will be engaging with groups likely to be affected by any protests.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill and deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said there is “no justification for racism or for the violence and intimidation that occurred on our streets on Saturday”.

A special meeting of Belfast City Council is also set to take place this evening.

Earlier, Stormont Speaker Edwin Poots said the Assembly will be recalled at noon on Thursday after a recall petition submitted by the Alliance Party and backed by the SDLP and Sinn Fein.

MLAs will discuss a motion condemning “criminal damage and targeting of businesses in recent days”.

The motion also calls on O’Neill and Little-Pengelly to finalise the draft Refugee Integration Strategy and associated Thematic Delivery Plan and present it to the Executive, and to bring forward the renewed Race Relations Order, and set out the process of replacing the Racial Equality Strategy 2015/25 by the end of 2024.

Cross border cooperation

The Northern Ireland Executive is to engage with the Irish government over the role that some Irish citizens played during the riots in Belfast this weekend.

Northern Irish justice minister Naomi Long told RTÉ Radio One this morning that she plans to speak with her Irish counterparts in the Republic over their involvement but also over the narrative on migration in recent months.

Mass anti-immigration protests across the United Kingdom this weekend turned violent in many areas, including in Belfast, and the scenes of unrest and rioting have sparked emergency ministerial meetings in Westminster and Stormont.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said this morning that four men, aged between 35 and 53 years old, have been charged in relation to reports of violence and disorder on the streets of Belfast on Saturday.

The PSNI deployed riot officers in Belfast on Saturday after anti-immigrant protests, largely fueled by far-right mis- and disinformation online, turned violent. Many similar scenes were seen right across the UK.

While ministers in Northern Ireland will meet with the PSNI today about the incidents in Belfast, Long said an overdue conversation must happen between Stormont and Dublin over the narrative around migration.

“We need to be responsible in terms of what we say as politicians in leadership, and I think that the increasing tensions around the immigration conversation over recent months has been profoundly unhelpful in managing all of this,” Long told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning.

“I think we need to get back on the same page when it comes to the language we use, the concerns that we express and how we do that in a moderate and temperate manner,” she added.

Long said that public representatives, North and South, need to avoid raising any tensions that could later fuel further protests or “hysteria”, which she said had “taken hold” over the weekend. 

Police officers all over the UK were injured and businesses, particularly immigrant-owned shops, were vandalised or destroyed during the mass rioting. The events have been condemned by the British and Irish governments.

Taoiseach Simon Harris yesterday spoke with Michelle O’Neill to discuss the violent scenes in Belfast. 

During the call, Harris expressed disgust at those flying the Irish Tricolour whilst attacking police and spouting racism. “This is repugnant to everything the Irish flag represents,” a statement from his Department said yesterday.

O’Neill said: “There is no place in this society for racism or the attacks on our minority communities which took place at the weekend.”

“Today, I spoke to PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher and we agreed that the shared priority is to protect lives and property and face down racism, violence and intimidation.

“Co-operation between the PSNI and An Garda Siochana is essential so that those responsible for causing and orchestrating the racist violence on Saturday will face the full force of the law.

“As a Government and as a society we must all work together to deliver a shared, peaceful and inclusive society.”

The planned demonstrations got underway on Saturday as tensions remain high after the killing of three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed holiday club in Southport, Merseyside, last week.

Axel Muganwa Rudakubana, 17, from Lancashire, is accused of the attack, but false claims spread online that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK by boat.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday that the police have his “full support” to take action against “extremists” attempting to “sow hate” by intimidating communities as he held emergency talks with ministers over the unrest in parts of England.

During a press conference this afternoon, Starmer said he would “not shy away from calling it what it is, far-right thuggery”. 

SDLP leader Matthew O’Toole condemned the violence earlier today.

“Let me be clear – there can be no room to equivocate around this issue. What we are dealing with is thugs intent on spreading fear and misinformation and attacking vulnerable people,” the Opposition leader said.

“Their hateful message will never win and that must be spoken with one voice during the Assembly recall this week. Any attempt to excuse or diminish what we saw over the past few days must be fully rejected and no quarter given to those behind this disorder.”

Do not travel

A number of countries have issued advice to their citizens warning them to steer clear of far-right riots and demonstrations. 

Nigeria, Malaysia and Indonesia have all sent out alerts, giving advice to their nationals living in or visiting the UK to stay away from demonstrations.

A “travel alert” by Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, based in the capital Abuja, stated that there is “an increased risk of violence and disorder occasioned by the recent riots in the UK”, noting that “the violence has assumed dangerous proportions”.

It went on: “Demonstrations by far right and other extra-parliamentary groups in parts of the UK in recent weeks have been large, and in some instances unruly.”

The High Commission of Malaysia in London posted a message online which read: “Malaysians residing in or travelling to the United Kingdom are urged to stay away from protest areas, remain vigilant and follow the latest updates and guidance provided by local authorities.”

It also “strongly encouraged” people to register with it to “receive timely information and assistance”.

The Indonesian embassy in London also issued a warning, advising its citizens in the UK to avoid large crowds and increase their vigilance.

Many countries around the world, including the US, Germany and Denmark, issued travel advice to their citizens following riots in England in summer 2011.

With reporting from Press Association and David Mac Redmond