The view from Belfast after a night of violent protests - The Latest
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What sparked the violent protests in Belfast?
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It was basically, you know, racist attacks, a form of ethnic cleansing whereby, you know, foreigners are being targeted on the basis of the colour of their skin. Hundreds of boys and men, dark clothing, wearing masks. And yet there's also a strange almost element of a festive atmosphere there, which made it even more sinister.
What did Rory Carroll witness during the protests?
The Troubles, the history of Northern Ireland, echoes through what we're seeing in some of the very same streets where mobs burned out Catholic families back in 1969.
From The Guardian's Today In Focus, this is The Latest. I'm Nosheen Iqbal. Rory Carroll, you're The Guardian's island correspondent, and you've been reporting from Northern Ireland where we saw violence erupt on the streets of Belfast last night in response to this horrific knife attack on Monday evening. The suspect, a 30-year-old Sudanese man, Hadi Al-Odeed, has been arrested and charged with attempted murder. The victim, Stephen Ogilvie, has lost his left eye and remains in hospital. I will say at the top that we're not going to be discussing the attack itself. There are reporting restrictions in place to prevent prejudice and criminal proceedings. Needless to say, a graphic video has been shared online and people took to the streets in rage.
Rory, you were out in the city last night. Can you tell me what you saw?
A lot of anger. People felt that they were completely justified to burn buses, cars, to storm the homes of foreigners whom they knew had nothing to do with this dreadful stabbing attack. And yet they felt that this was justice, community justice, because they feel that things have got, you know, you hear the sentiment out of control repeatedly. And so there was obviously a sense of menace, very sinister when you see hundreds of boys and men, dark clothing, wearing masks and very dramatic circumstance, police helicopters overhead, houses on fire, an acrid smell everywhere, sirens going off. And yet there's also a strange, almost elements of a festive atmosphere there, which made it even more sinister.
You had families coming out with young children coming out to watch what was happening and what was happening. It was basically, you know, racist attacks, a form of ethnic cleansing whereby, you know, foreigners are being targeted on the basis of the colour of their skin. And so this was unfolded across multiple locations in Belfast and also in other parts outside the city.
Well, Rory, you've reported on waves of violence against immigrants in Ireland and Northern Ireland in recent years, from the sustained attack on Deliveroo drivers in 2023, the riots that were triggered by the Southport attack in 2024, and what we saw in Ballymena last year against the Roma community. Would you say it's typically the same minority of people behind the unrest?
Yes, in the sense that it's often usually the worst trouble is in loyalist Protestant working class areas of Belfast. You mentioned Ballymena, you know, and of course, Northern Ireland, so much as sectarian nationalist Catholic areas tend to be less, not so much flashpoints when it comes to anti-immigrant sentiments.
Why is that?
If you go to nationalist Catholic areas, you hear the same kind of racist sentiments that you hear in loyalist ones. There seems to be little difference there. But one big difference is that I think the IRA or the remnants of it are able to stifle on the Republican side these explicit eruptions of kind of racial, tinged ethnic cleansing practices. Whereas on the loyalist side, there are ex-loyalist paramilitaries who do also try to stifle this, feel that this is wrong, but they don't have the same level of control.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What sparked the violent protests in Belfast?
0:00–1:10
2
What did Rory Carroll witness during the protests?
1:10–6:37
3
What role do social media and public figures play in inciting violence?
6:37–7:43
4
How have past events influenced the current unrest in Northern Ireland?
7:43–11:06
5
How do local communities perceive immigrants amidst the violence?
11:06–13:53
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Today in Focus
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