Ballymena violence: Immigration row continues as DUP MLA says a blind eye has been turned to concerns
A blind eye has been turned to warnings about problems with immigration in “specific areas” of Ballymena - which have now been exploited by outsiders, a DUP MLA has said.
Paul Frew’s comments come after a second night of violence in the County Antrim town, with a further 17 police officers injured amid widespread disorder. On Monday, hundreds of residents attended a rally held after an alleged sexual assault on a teenage girl in the town at the weekend, after which violence broke out.
Earlier that day, two boys appeared before Coleraine magistrates' court accused of sexually assaulting the girl. The pair spoke through a Romanian interpreter to confirm their names and ages – with their solicitor telling the court they would be denying the allegations.
Sinn Fein has accused other politicians of “stoking up fears”, after unionist politicians had raised issues about the situation in Ballymena at Stormont in recent weeks.
Speaking after a second night of violence in Ballymena, DUP MLA Paul Frew said that the violence is wrong.
He told the BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme: “It needs to stop. It is serving absolutely no strategic purpose. It is drowning out the strong and sincere sympathies for victims of sexual violence.
“It is preventing the message from getting out that we must do more to end violence against women and girls, and it is destroying our town and wider environment, and it must stop and stop now”.
He also said there is an element of people from outside the town “who are exploiting this situation” – but said they had “local intelligence”. The DUP man said that he didn’t believe there is a paramilitary element to the violence.
Sinn Fein’s MLA for the area Philip McGuigan told the programme that people are “using the excuse of a very serious sexual assault on a young girl” – and said those involved in the riots “are not one bit concerned about violence of women and girls when they’re burning houses with women and young girls inside”.
He also claimed that politicians aren’t “blameless” over what has happened in Ballymena over recent nights.
“Certainly, I have heard people stoking up fears and tensions over the last number of weeks in relation to Ballymena, all based on mistruths and fears. So I think what we are seeing absolutely needs to be condemned”, he said.
In an Assembly debate last month, Mr Frew had raised the issue of immigration in Ballymena, saying there had been “a massive concentration of people movement”.
He told MLAs that there is nothing wrong with people movement, saying it is “as old as mankind itself” – but called for controls on migration.
“I know people of a socialist nature who have come to my office with concerns about the issue and Polish people who have come into my office concerned about the welfare and safety of their children walking through Ballymena at night.
“There are massive issues in Ballymena alone that no one seems to be addressing. When you ask the questions that they ask, you are deemed to be a racist and a bigot. That is not the way it should be”, Mr Frew said.
He called for “a decent, suitable, grown-up, mature debate on people movement and the controls and measures that are in place in our government to make sure that people move in manageable ways”.
TUV MLA for Timothy Gaston had also raised issues in the areas of Ballymena affected by the recent disorder. “Take Harryville or Clonavon: my goodness, those were once working-class areas, but houses have been bought up by landlords who have turned them into illegal HMOs, many of which are overcrowded.
“I trust local people, and I understand why they are unhappy. They are not racist or ignorant; they are asking fair questions about why it is happening in their areas”.
During that debate, North Antrim Sian Mulholland acknowledged “there are issues”, but said that in Ballymena in particular “migrants are not a burden but a necessity”.
“They are staffing our hospitals. In fact, 900 people from North Antrim alone work in our health and social care system”, she said.
The Alliance MLA added: “With a declining birth rate and an ageing population, NI as a whole cannot function without some form of inward migration”.