During the summer in 2025, a period of unsettlement in the County Antrim town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland spilled over into two nights of violence. A vigil, held in honor of a teenage girl, who was allegedly assaulted, resulted in racially motivated riots that caused extensive property damage, several law enforcement officers were injured, and many immigrants became too afraid to leave their homes. Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) reacted by mobilizing more police officers and asking Police Scotland to assist in bringing order
/*Sparked by Allegations*/
The unrests were sparked off on June 9, 2025 after the arrest of two 14-year-old boys who were accused of attempting to rape a teenage girl. This was further aggravated by the use of a Romanian interpreter in the court proceedings that gave rise to baseless xenophobic arguments that the suspects were Romanian immigrants. This false information caused tensions, which resulted in a vigil, which turned into violent protests. Rioters in masks hurled bricks and petrol bombs at police, wounded more than 17 officers and burnt cars and homes in immigrant areas.
/*Racially Motivated Attacks*/
The violence was defined by racial based violence that attacked immigrant communities. In what appeared to be mostly organized by protesting people wearing black and chanting anti-immigrant sentiments, properties mainly linked to the Roma and other immigrants were vandalized and burned. The ethnic minority families (Bulgarian, Portuguese and Slovak) had to run out of their homes as rioters broke windows and burnt houses. Political leaders and community leaders denounced the violence, and several of them attributed the happenings to uncontrolled immigration
/*Police Response and Reinforcements*/
To deal with the increasing violence, the PSNI extended the number of officers and sought assistance through mutual aid agreements with Police Scotland. On June 11, 2025, Police Scotland reached an agreement to deploy 80 officers to Northern Ireland to help the PSNI to contain the disturbances. However, the violence did not remain confined to East Belfast and it escalated to other areas of Northern Ireland such as Belfast, Lisburn, Coleraine, Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus where demonstrators burnt cars and buildings and rioted against the police.
/*Community Impact and Fear*/
The riots have had a long-lasting impression on the immigrant population in Ballymena. Residents have taken to fear and uncertainty with many putting up national flags and British symbols, in a move to try and avoid being targeted. Families are thinking of ways to escape the region, others are left to deal with the horror of what happened. The bloodshed has brought light to the existing racial and societal differences in the area bringing questions of civic security and societal harmony into the limelight