Violence condemned as clean-up operation under way after Belfast disorder

Street violence that saw families forced to flee homes in Belfast has been condemned as "outright thuggery".

A clean-up operation is under way after Tuesday saw a night of disorder in parts of Northern Ireland, amid protests that followed a knife attack.

Police said they rescued a number of families from their burning homes one of which had a "baby as young as two months old".

Houses, cars and a bus were set on fire and all public transport was suspended in the city on Tuesday night. Politicians condemned the violent scenes and called for calm.

The fire service says it was called to 62 incidents on Tuesday night, most of them in the Belfast area. There was also disorder elsewhere in Northern Ireland, including Newtownabbey and Portadown.

A 30-year-old Sudanese man, Hadi Alodid, has appeared in court charged with attempted murder following the attack in north Belfast on Monday night.

A man in his 40s remains in hospital and lost his left eye in the attack with injuries to his neck and back after the attack in Kinnaird Avenue at about 22:30 BST.

All bus and train services resumed on Wednesday morning, Translink said.

On Wednesday morning, First Minister Michelle O'Neill said of the previous night's unrest that "groups of masked men burning families out of their homes is nothing less than disgusting cowardice" and "outright thuggery".

Calling the attack that sparked the protests "heinous and wrong", O'Neill voiced concerns it was being used as a pretence to "target and attack innocent people who are simply trying to live, work and raise their families here".

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable has warned anyone who is involved in violent protests in Northern Ireland that they will face prosecution and a criminal record.

Jon Boutcher has described Tuesday night's disorder as "an insult" to the victim of the north Belfast knife attack and "to his family".

Boutcher said the "deploring" scenes witnessed made him "very concerned".

He said police rescued many families, including "a baby as young as two months".

The chief constable said information relating to the suspect's background was released to prevent the spread of "online misinformation and lies" that can cause people to "mindlessly conduct attacks".

"That is what happened at Southport not long ago," he said.

"We have to give information instead of sit on information, and that's what we did yesterday."

Boutcher appealed for people to do what they can to stop young people getting involved in any further disorder, imploring people to impress on youngsters the potential consequences of their actions.

Paul Doherty, an independent councillor from Belfast, has been supporting a family who were put out of their home "by a mob" on Tuesday night.

Doherty said the family included four children, who were "traumatised".

"But out of all the darkness we seen last night, we actually saw people pull together," said Doherty, adding that the family was being supported.

Doherty said he knows people from Bombay Street in west Belfast "who still bear the scars" of being burned out of their houses in 1969.

Families were forced from their homes as the Troubles flared in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s.

"We know where this road leads," he said. "We can't allow reckless mobs in 2026 to repeat some of the darkest chapters of our past."

There were also peaceful protests in others areas including Antrim, Ballymena, Londonderry, Larne and Bangor, as well as protests in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Southampton elsewhere in the UK.

Jamie Corrie has lived on Lendrick Street in east Belfast for 13 years.

Last night, his house went up in flames after a car was set alight outside.

Speaking to BBC News NI outside his home this morning, he says he's "gutted".

"I told them before they were lighting the car, I said 'this is my property'."

He says the car belonged to "foreign nationals" who lived next door.

"See standing there watching your house get burnt … that's a feeling I'll never get over," he says.

While he is also angry about the attack in north Belfast, he asks: "What does this resolve? What does this actually do? Burning cars out, wrecking your own community and now one of their own has just lost their home."

He says by the time firefighters arrived last night his house was "already engulfed in flames" and everything is destroyed.

"There's stuff in there that's sentimental, can't be replaced, that you'll not get again."

Yura, 19, is part of the Ukrainian family who were forced to flee their home on Lendrick Street in east Belfast during the disorder. She described the scenes last night as "terrifying".

"My neighbour's house was set on fire. So, my front door caught the fire a bit. It had to be kicked out to stop the fire because it was about to go in the house".

"I was with my dog at the house, so I had to escape through the back door. My neighbour's dog was trapped in the house so we were also trying to break into their house to get the dog.

"I was lucky that my friends live nearby, so they let me crash for the night."

A video widely circulated online showed a number of people, including one wielding a hurling stick, confront the apparent attacker until police officers arrived at the scene on Monday night.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said "sporadic pockets of disorder" broke out in response.

He said it was "clear" people were "targeted... because of their background".

"I will not tolerate it," he added.

The prime minister said the disorder was "shocking and completely unacceptable".

"Those responsible will feel the full force of the law," the PM said.

He also called for calm, saying police must be allowed to get on with their wo

Speaking to BBC Breakfast on Wednesday morning Justice Minister Naomi Long said she understood that Monday's attack had caused anger but that "attacking other innocent people, driving people from their homes, attacking their property attacking the police themselves is not acceptable".

She urged people to let justice take its course.

She told the programme she spoke to a Sudanese woman on Tuesday who was "visibly shaking and crying, because she was so fearful that people would hold an entire community responsible for the actions of an individual, that can't be right and it isn't a society that we want to build here in Northern Ireland".

Deputy First Minister Emma Little-Pengelly said it was absolutely right to say "all of us were completely appalling by what happened, horrified by what happened in north Belfast on Monday night".

"But this violence, this thuggery, this intimidation, it is absolutely unacceptable."

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said "people have been rightly shocked" by the attack in north Belfast on Monday but added that police must be allowed to do their job.

At one stage a masked group of about 100 people made their way down the Newtownards Road in east Belfast attacking houses and setting fire to vehicles – including a bus.

A man in his 30s told BBC News NI he had lived on the street for 10 years.

"Cars were set alight on the road, which caught fire to my house but masked men were bashing down doors," he said.

Elsewhere, a police Land Rover was attacked on the Crumlin Road and two cars were set alight at the Cloughfern roundabout in Newtownabbey while a police car was also set ablaze in Portadown.

The violence was widely condemned by political parties across the political spectrum.

In a joint statement issued before the disorder, Northern Ireland's five main political parties said they are "united" in their condemnation of the attack on Monday.

It was signed by Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill, the Alliance Party's Naomi Long, Jon Burrows from the UUP, the DUP's Gavin Robinson, and Claire Hanna from the SDLP.

As the disorder raged, SDLP leader Claire Hanna criticised the havoc being wreaked across Northern Ireland.

"What you're seeing is a race-based pogrom, we are seeing men going door to door asking to 'get the foreigners out' based exclusively on the colour of their skin."

Baroness Foster, former leader of the DUP, called for "deescalation", adding that it is for "politicians to answer questions about immigration".

"If you're a parent you should be wondering where your 15,16,17 old is and get them home."

Also commenting was Conservative MP Sir Jeremy Hunt, who said: "Any politician who sees clips of that horrific stabbing and then tries to exploit it for their own political advantage, is utterly despicable."

Protests also happened in other parts of the UK.

In Scotland groups gathered in Glasgow city centre and St Andrew's Square in Edinburgh.

In England police were deployed in Southampton, after demonstrators gathered outside the Highfield House Hotel.