On a leafy avenue overlooking Larne promenade on Wednesday night, groups of masked men made their way to the Co Antrim town’s leisure centre.
Residents living in large detached houses on Tower Road watched on in horror as the centre – which had provided emergency shelter to migrant families burnt out of their homes 32km away in Ballymena – was set on fire.
“They were coming up the road handing out balaclavas to each other, they were well organised. I’ve been living in this area for 50 years and never seen anything like it… it’s appalling,” said one woman walking along the promenade on Thursday.
Inside the centre, children as young as six were getting changed for their weekly swimming lesson and a yoga session was under way as protesters began banging on windows.
It marked the third night of violent disorder in Northern Ireland following an alleged sexual assault of a girl in Ballymena at the weekend.
Two 14-year-old boys appeared in court on Monday charged with attempted rape. The charges were read to the teenagers by a Romanian interpreter.
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Jon Boutcher described the unrest as “absolutely race-motivated”. As of Thursday evening, 41 officers had been injured and 15 people had been arrested.
Standing outside a police cordon at Larne Leisure Centre on Thursday afternoon, swim coach Danielle Hill became emotional as she recalled the moment she saw four masked men appear when she went to move her car the previous evening.
Hill (25) is a double Olympian from Newtownabbey, Co Antrim – she represented Ireland at the Tokyo and Paris summer games – and was waiting to take a group of children into the 25m pool at 7pm.
At 7.22pm she received a phone call, warning her that trouble had flared following an earlier peaceful protest outside the centre attended by about 50 people.
“Hundreds had gathered by the time I went to move my car. Four men wearing balaclavas came around the corner. I have never experienced anything like that. When I saw them I paused. It was very scary,” she said.
“My first thought was to get back inside to inform everybody. They had no idea what was going on, I was the eyes and ears outside. My first port of call was the children – there was about 30 to 40 kids inside.”
Hill has not slept in 24 hours and appealed for calm.
“I thought Northern Ireland was past this; I thought we were beyond balaclavas. I thought we were beyond the violence. Kids shouldn’t have to grow up in that. Last night was so unnecessary, it didn’t achieve anything,” she said.
“This stemmed from an alleged sexual attack on a young girl, but last night has nothing to do with sexual violence. What unfolded was racism in its rawest and most dangerous form.”
Earlier on Thursday, a political row erupted over comments by Stormont Communities Minister Gordon Lyons on social media hours before the attack in Larne, in which he posted the location of the centre – where migrants had stayed earlier in the week after fleeing their homes.
First Minister Michelle O’Neill called for his resignation, accusing him of “failing to show correct leadership”, but Mr Lyons defended his position and said he had no intention of resigning.
Extra police resources are being deployed to the North from Police Scotland to deal with the disturbances.
During a PSNI press conference on Thursday, Mr Boutcher admitted the service “did not have the resources” to deal with spontaneous violence on Monday but was equipped to deal with the disorder that followed on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Asked about the arson attack in Larne, the chief constable said the responsibility for injured officers and damaged buildings falls on “the people committing these crimes” rather than the PSNI.
In late afternoon, an 80-year-old pensioner on the Larne promenade said she hoped the violence would end.
“Goodness knows, we had plenty of trouble years ago,” she said, “we don’t need that back again”.
