"Race-based pogrom" and "huge act of self-harm by mindless idiots who are actually only damaging their own futures".

[Batmanisaplaceinturkey]

Northern Ireland's First Minister Michelle O'Neill says "groups of masked men" were "burning families out of their homes"

One pastor in north Belfast says black people's homes were targeted, while an MP tells the BBC there was a "race-based pogrom"

The PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher says the violent disorder in Belfast was a "huge act of self-harm by mindless idiots who are actually only damaging their own futures".

I agree with all the quotes. Sick of mindless racist thugs and their 'protests', where they look like they are enjoying themselves while they commit violence and set fire to things.

Its been pishing down here for the past half an hour. Hoping it keeps up all day.🙏

I think the Celtic countries have, until now, had a very lofty view of themselves as far more pro immigrant and tolerant than the English. However, that was all well and good when they had far less immigration than us.
Now their own numbers are rising, suddenly they’re displeased by it and acting in the same way the English have for some time now. 🤷‍♀️

This is just terrifying. Driving people from their homes because of the colour of their skin.

I don't think the people rioting consider themselves Irish/Celtic in the main.

It's such an own goal from the protestors. So many people have worked so hard since the Good Friday Agreement to rebuild NI and make it an attractive place to start a business, take a holiday, film a TV series or film, and so on. And in one night of mindless violence we're right back to the sort of terrifying images we used to see on TV week after week during the Troubles. I feel very sorry for the vast majority of decent, law-abiding people in NI.

Given where the attack happened, I assume not. I'm not from NI. Would the response have been different in West Belfast?

I don’t know about you, but despite my SM history being largely cronching dogs and left wing political commentators, I and finding more and more very right wing content being served up to me by the algorithm. It so sneaky though, it will be 15 seconds in before what looked like someone just talking about something of interest, it will bait and switch to racist, misogynistic or homophobic ranting. Then of course because you watched a bit of it, that clicks something somewhere saying you like it so more and more pops up.

If I were an “on the fence” type person who didn’t ever check sources, I’d be convinced by the arguments and who knows what I’d believe.

If you think that isn’t deliberate by the people who make billions off it, you haven’t been paying attention.

I think he was killed in a Catholic area but the rioting was happening in a Protestant area? Based on the kerbstones but I'm not expert. I was more responding to the comment about "the Celts" not wanting to be colonised again. It shows a huge lack of understanding of anything really.
Granted there are also anti immigrant protests in the Republic of Ireland. But it's not where the rioting is happening right now.

I'm not from NI either. But I know enough to know that a hardcore loyalist in Belfast is unlikely to consider himself a Celtic victim of British colonisation.

Clian is likely referring to Ireland's history of being colonised by Britain over the last 800-900 years e.g. the Anglo-Norman invasion, the Plantation of Ulster, Cromwell's murderous campaign in Ireland, the Tudors' forcible moving of large numbers of the population off their lands, the banning of Catholic worship and of teaching Irish in schools etc. Irish history has been very unsettled because of multiple invasions from viking times onwards.

Conor McGregor is leading the charge 🤷‍♀️

The changes here have only been superficial and nothing has been done to address the deep social and economic inequalities in NI. We have generations of families who have had no prospects and have been left to fester in social housing that's inadequate with little prospect of employment or improvement of their prospects. The boundaries between communities were drawn decades ago and walls/barriers put up to prevent as little interaction as possible and then just left that way.

In my view, our post conflict society needs serious investment to promote societal change that will benefit both sides of the divide here.

Yes, I think most of us got that. We're saying the analogy doesn't hold up. And also that loyalists waving union jacks probably don't see Ireland as colonised "again", even if they mistake immigration for colonisation.

You wouldn’t get this in the middle of winter

Immigration is fine. It’s the illegal immigration that no one wants.

Unfortunately when reasonable people don't get control of a situation then unreasonable people will step in. The people to blame are successive governments of multiple European countries that have allowed this mass movement of people from third world countries onto our shores.

What do you mean with illegal immigration?

GB doesn't have open borders simply because we are an Island nation but the U.K does have an open border with Ireland in Northern Ireland.

Haha, so true The rioters are scary, but they're not committed. Fair weather "politics" while the sun is out.

Is he actually in Belfast in the riots now? Gross. I didn't know that. It's amazing noone wants to protect their women and girls from him.

Yes, we have been through that.

My comment was in response to a now deleted post re immigration. The open border argument that the rightwing likes to use.

Well I wonder if this means immigrants will avoid NI.
Which means they will have succeeded.

@Backedoffhackedoff ’There are 4 countries in the uk, all have open borders with each other and 1 has an open border with the EU.’

Yes, indeed. There is the Common Travel Area (with certain conditions applying) between Ireland and the UK. For those who are nationals of Ireland, and/ or of the UK (again conditions applying). Think you have to have been born in either country, hold citizenship of either country, and only when travelling from one country to the other.

Through NI, the UK has what might possibly be called an open border with an EU country. It is not just any EU country though, is it? There is a historic reason for it. The island of Ireland was has only been divided (as in belonging to two different countries) into two for nigh on 100 years. There’s no reason to go into the history here, but suffice to say a great many people who live, and are from NI, wish to maintain their natural links with Ireland. So much, that the possibility for a referendum on ‘reunification’ (both in NI and Ireland) is in the Good Friday Agreement. The Northern Irish Protocol was introduced to protect the Good Friday Agreement. The GRA which the majority of people in NI (and Ireland) voted for. I think part of that was demilitarisation, and the removal of barriers. Someone may correct me on that if I am wrong.

I do think there are checks on the train from Dublin to Belfast, though. That happened to a friend of mine prior to Brexit, so maybe they do still check. She was of Indian decent, so she was wondering if that was the reason. Not just ticket, id/ passport as well, I think.

However, Ireland is not in Schengen. There should still be checks on people arriving in Ireland, even from another EU country. It is an island, so that would be by ferry or plane.

This is what we can look forward to if Reform and similar thinking people get into power. I don't think a comparison between them and Adolf Hitler is too far fetched!

You think a Reform government will fire bomb homes during the night ?