Editorial: ​Outrageous violent scenes in Ballymena

​The violence in Ballymena was outrageous, and the culprits must be brought to justice.

​There have been attempts to link it to immigration, although it is important to emphasise that there is a case before the courts and that the criminal justice system must be allowed to take its course.

The violence, however, as our reports show has inflicted great physical damage in Ballymena. It has not only led to the destruction of property and the injuries of police officers, it has damaged the reputation of a fine Co Antrim town.

There is no excuse for such conduct.

Some people have tried to link the matter to immigration but what they have in fact done is divert attention from very legitimate anger at the complete loss of control of Britain’s borders, and also the fact that the open border on the island of Ireland.

These are matters of great importance, and reflect grave concerns about immigration across Europe, including in great nations such as Germany and France.

But not only is wanton violence obviously wrong in its own right, and an unforgivable risk to life and limb, it is used by supporters of mass immigration to blame the communities that have to live with the consequences of sudden population changes.

There is a particular tendency to point to loyalists for being bigots, when similar concerns about mass influxes of foreign populations are felt not only by the countries mentioned above, but across Ireland. Yet this newspaper was one of the few media outlets to cover the major anti immigration gathering in Cork at the weekend.

To liberals everywhere, such concerns are limited to the groups of people they sneer at, eg unionists.

We commend the emergency services for their brave work in trying to restore order in Ballymena and our thoughts are with the people who live there, including immigrants who work hard at jobs that other people might not want to do.