The anti-immigration protests in Ballymena are a violent backlash against an unprecedented demographic upheaval.
For the fourth night in a row, Ballymena, Northern Ireland, has been gripped by unrest.
Riots broke out on Monday, following reports of an alleged sexual assault against a young girl. Two 14-year-old boys then appeared in court, charged with attempted rape, and were assisted in the courtroom by a Romanian interpreter. The assumption that the teenagers were foreigners fuelled speculation and anger in a town where tensions between the native population and migrant communities were already running high. Consequently, what began as a peaceful protest to show support for the victim and her family soon morphed into the days-long anti-migrant rioting we are currently seeing play out.
Apparently, #Ballymena is NOT #Rotherham? pic.twitter.com/c9RJvgvfEX
— ꘉ (@museumsireland) June 12, 2025
