Several Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers were injured in a fifth consecutive night of unrest in Co Antrim and disorder spreading to Co Derry and elsewhere.
More than 60 officers have been injured while protecting the community from “ongoing disorder” this week, according to the PSNI.
The PSNI said three males were arrested overnight, with two charged and due to appear before court on Monday. Officers have charged a 23-year-old with riot and another man in his 20s with riotous behaviour. A 14-year-old boy arrested on suspicion of riotous behaviour has been released on bail.
The disorder began in Ballymena on Monday evening following a peaceful protest over an alleged sexual assault.
Two teenage boys appeared in court earlier that day charged with the attempted rape of a girl in the Co Antrim town. The 14-year-olds, who deny the offences, confirmed their names through a Romanian interpreter.
On Saturday a PSNI spokesman said: “Disorder and violence broke out in Portadown with officers coming under sustained attack with heavy masonry and fireworks thrown at them.” He said officers used various public order tactics, including a water cannon.
Police in Co Derry dealt with disorder in the Tullyally area over the course of several hours last night and early this morning. A police vehicle’s front window was smashed, the spokesman said.
Playing fields and property were damaged in the Killeavey Road area of Newry as a large group set a pitch and bins on fire.
Stones were thrown at the windows of a hotel in the Newtownabbey area in Belfast, while a car was set on fire in the Hesketh Gardens area several kilometres away. The PSNI is treating this as a racially motivated hate crime.
Assistant Chief Constable Melanie Jones said it is “deeply disturbing to see such young members of our communities involved in, and in some areas driving, criminal activity”.
She appealed to parents and guardians to “speak to your children about the impact their behaviour is having on the safety of our local communities and the impact this could have on their lives if arrested, charged and prosecuted”.
The assistant chief constable outlined that the PSNI continues to have a “heightened presence” in local communities.
She said the force is “investigating” social media posts inciting hate and disorder.
The PSNI has released images of four individuals officers want to identify and interview in connection with ongoing investigations.
“I am asking the wider community to step forward and help us,” said Ms Jones.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has praised Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill and Deputy First Minister, Emma Pengelly for their efforts in trying to curb the violence that has erupted in several towns over the past week.
“No government is immune, no country or society is immune from this type of violence that is racially motivated, let’s be honest and call it out for what it is,” Mr Martin told reporters in Cork on Saturday.
He said he does not believe the rioters reflect the majority in their community.
“I think it will ease. I fervently hope that it will because many of the politicians that I spoke to over the last two days have been in the communities and the vast majority of people in these communities do not want this violence. They don’t want this type of activity,” he said.
Mr Martin pointed to a similarity with the Dublin riots in November 2023 when a foreign national was involved in an alleged attack on children and a teacher in Parnell Square. While the immediate concern is support for the police, he said that longer term “we need to create a better climate and culture within society”.
“We do need to engage with communities and hear what communities are saying in given locations and also continue our education around difference,” he said.
He said the influence of social media in spreading misinformation and “hatred” is “very worrying.
