Debate contribution: Racially Motivated Riots

Debate contribution by Mr Colm Gildernew on 15 June 2026.

MLA: Mr Colm Gildernew
Party at the time: Sinn Féin
Date: 15 June 2026
Type: Debate contribution
Business: Matter of the Day
Heading: Racially Motivated Riots
Assembly identifier: Official Report component 5613069

Text

I raise the issue of the racially motivated riots that we have seen in the past week since we stood here last Tuesday. Communities have been convulsed in an orgy of racist violence. We saw mobs roaming the streets, attacking people simply on the basis of the colour of their skin and making people homeless in the midst of what is already a homelessness crisis. We saw vulnerable communities being attacked and terrorised and families being burnt from their homes. We saw children in their bare feet being escorted into the back of police vehicles for their own safety. Those were absolutely shameful and disgraceful scenes, and everybody in the Chamber should be calling them out for what they are. I acknowledge the efforts that the community and voluntary sector has made over the past week to deal with the fallout from much of that violence through trying to support families, trying to find them somewhere to stay and trying to remove them from situations in which they were in imminent danger. I also acknowledge the leadership that people have shown in their own communities, where they have rallied around people who have been targeted. They have supported them and, where they could, tried to assist them. Furthermore, I acknowledge the Housing Executive and housing association staff who have been working around the clock to try to address some of the issues. Regrettably, during an emergency meeting of the Committee for Communities that I called last Wednesday, it became clear that the situation has been exacerbated as a result of what happened in Larne last year and that some of the normal measures used to respond have not been available. That is absolutely disgraceful. I also send my solidarity to the Mayor of Belfast, Róis-Máire Donnelly, who has received death threats. She has just come into post as the new mayor and has been the subject of such threats. We need to speak with one voice, and what we say in the Chamber needs to be heard very clearly, Members. Those were absolutely unacceptable and disgraceful levels of violence. I have referenced communities, homelessness and housing. Gordon Lyons, as the Minister for Communities, whose remit includes homelessness and housing, has been largely invisible and largely silent on those issues. I would like the Minister to come to the House to make clear what steps he is taking to protect those communities, to condemn the fact that people are being made homeless and to give support to people who are desperately trying to provide housing for all those affected.

428 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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