Ballymena riots: Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly calls for end to violence

For the second night in a row police came under fire, with multiple petrol bombs, heavy masonry, bricks and fireworks hurled in their direction over a number of hours in the Clonavon Terrace area of Ballymena on Tuesday night (10th).

Seventeen officers were injured, bringing the total number of members of the force hurt to 32 over the course of two nights.

The violence flared at first on Monday following an earlier peaceful protest which was organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area.

Sporadic demonstrations elsewhere saw bins set alight in Newtownabbey and Carrickfergus, while roads were blocked around Carlisle Circus in north Belfast and there was a small protest at Pitt Memorial Park in the east of the city – and there are calls for further rallies in Coleraine and a main north Belfast road around rush hour tonight.

In the wake of the second night of trouble in Ballymena, both the Stormont executive and Mrs Little-Pengelly individually issued calls for an end to the disorder.

“Dismayed to see further disorder last night,” stated the deputy First Minister in a social media post this morning. “Violence is always wrong.

“I have been in constant contact throughout last night with PSNI and in contact with local elected representatives. This disorder must stop and justice be allowed to prevail.”

Tuesday’s trouble came after similar scenes of violent disorder in the same part of Ballymena on Monday night, which followed an earlier peaceful protest organised in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area. Two teenage boys, who spoke to a court through a Romanian interpreter, have been charged.

First Minister Michelle O’Neill has also demanded an end to the disorder, stating on social media that it was “abhorrent” and “must stop immediately”.

“As First Minister, as a mother, as a grandmother, I will do everything in my power to protect and support everyone in our community, so that no one should ever have to live in fear in their own home,” she stated.