Northern Ireland immigration: Arlene Foster says Justice Minister Naomi Long 'must recognise democratic right to peaceful protest'

Police have arrested 22 people this week after rioting in the south and east of the city over several nights, reportedly due to concerns about immigration levels. Ten police officers have been injured.

On Thursday the Assembly passed a motion condemning the criminal damage, targeting of businesses and “all forms of Islamophobia, xenophobia and racism”.

However it refused to accept a DUP amendment that the assembly respected “the right to peaceful protest is a fundamental pillar of any democracy and must be protected".

There were reports of peaceful anti-immigration protests last Saturday in Bangor, Larne, Carrickfergus and Newtownabbey. In Belfast there were reports of similar protests at Carlisle Circus, York Street and Queen's Bridge. No trouble was reported by police from any of these venues.

At Belfast City Hall the main protest last Saturday of some 400 people was reported to be largely peaceful. However several dozen people reportedly broke away towards the Belfast Islamic Centre in south Belfast, where they were blocked by police lines. Several ethnic minority-owned businesses in south Belfast were then destroyed and a police Land Rover was petrol bombed.

Following the protests, North Down Alliance MLA Andrew Muir said on social media that he was "disgusted by shameful hate marches and protests held today in Bangor and other areas".

However North Down independent MP Alex Easton responded that while he was "unequivocal" in his "total opposition to violence of any kind", in his discussions with the PSNI he had “noted that the protest in Bangor was peaceful”.

Leading the assembly debate on the violence on Thursday, Alliance leader Ms Long, who is also Justice Minister, said none of the immigration protests were legitimate, describing them all as “hate marches".

She told MLAs: "There have been suggestions from some that the violence is a result of people with genuine concerns about immigration seeking to protest legitimately. Those demonstrations, as they were advertised, were never intended to be either legitimate or lawful.

"From the outset, they were intended to intimidate and threaten, to break the law on public processions and to block roads, and I believe that they were intended to create violence and unrest.

" The call for women and children to stand at the front was, in my view, a clear attempt to use them as human shields when violence started. They were not, in my view, ever intended to be legitimate. They are hate marches."

She added: "I want, however, to speak beyond them. I want to speak to those people who are genuinely confused, frightened or even angry about immigration and to those who believe that immigrants and asylum seekers are the cause of their own hardship. They are not. Your anger is misdirected.

"Lack of investment by the previous Government in public services and housing is the cause, and, by taking out your frustrations on others because of their ethnicity, religion or skin colour, more scarce resources are being wasted. You are being manipulated by far right groups and social media fakery."

However Ms Foster said that it was important for the Justice Minister to recognise the democratic right to peaceful protest.

"I can understand why she wanted to lead the debate, because there are policing issues," she told the News Letter. "There are obviously issues for the courts. They have to be dealt with. People from ethnic minority communities have the right to feel safe and should be feeling safe.

"But at the same time, she has to recognize that there is a democratic right to peaceful protest. Once that line is crossed [into violence] then it is a policing issue. But there needs to be that demarcation, because we've had many peaceful protests over the years of Northern Ireland."

Ms Foster said she believes Ms Long would have been sympathetic to public protests which took place after the murder of Sarah Everard in London by a police officer – and protests for Black Lives Matter and George Floyd.

"There is a right to peaceful protest. It's when you move from peaceful protest to violence that the police have to get involved."

Ms Foster also asked if the Justice Minister condemned the anti-racism counter protests on the streets of Belfast in the past week.

She added: "What does the Justice Minister say about the peaceful counter protests on the streets of Northern Ireland?” she asked. “Does she support the anti-racism peaceful protests taking place on our streets to counter the immigration protests?"

The Alliance Party and Department of Justice were invited to respond.

A major protest is taking place in Belfast tonight, Friday, with unconfirmed reports of other protests tonight in Londonderry and Bangor. It is reported that protests will take place in Carrickfergus on Friday and Saturday.