North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston was criticised after claiming that a failure to address immigration concerns in Ballymena made the violent scenes this week inevitable.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson says six arrests have been made so far, as he requests mutual aid from police in Great Britain.

The North’s first minister Michelle O’Neill has said Stormont communities minister Gordon Lyons should resign over a social media post sent hours before an attack on Larne Leisure Centre. Mr Lyons has faced criticism over a social media post about the location of immigrant families who fled their homes.

Filipinos in the Ballymena area "have been targeted," the Philippine Embassy in London said after three nights of disorder in Northern Ireland.

Rioters clashed with police in Ballymena, and masked groups set fire to a recreation center in Larne, where families had been given temporary shelter.

Disorder has broken out in Northern Ireland for the third successive night, after police said people are "waking up with genuine fear for their lives" following two nights of violence in Ballymena and other areas.

More than 40 police officers have been injured so far after violence in Ballymena went on for a third night. The rioting began on Monday night following an earlier peaceful protest in support of the family of a girl who was the victim of an alleged sexual assault in the area.

MORE rioting broke out across different towns in Northern Ireland for the third successive night on Wednesday as yobs attacked police with petrol bombs, hatchets and fireworks in the main

The PSNI has branded the violence “racist thuggery” and said officers and ethnic minorities have been targeted for attack. Michael Elliott, 18, of Lanntara, Ballymena, appeared in the dock in handcuffs and wearing a grey tracksuit on Thursday. A PSNI detective constable said he could connect him to a charge of riotous assembly.

Ballymena is my home town. I left it as a small child when my parents took me to London, and I have lived for most of the past 50 years in Dublin. But, for better or worse, it still has a special place in my affections. Like most Irish towns, it has its ...