In general Northern Irish folk are quite welcoming to people from other nationalities, but there's a hard core of racists who do their best to stir up hatred and intolerance, either for political reasons or because they enjoy a bit of violence and disorder.
Most of the Ballymena and Portadown residents must have been horrified by the rioting and wanted no part of it. They are sleepy little towns were normally nothing very dramatic happens and the biggest sensation is a new set of traffic lights.
The rioting paints a negative picture of Northern Ireland that completely misrepresents the reality of sensible, peace-loving folk who just want to get on with their lives. Tourists must be wondering if the rioting might spread to Belfast or other parts of the country. Fortunately there's no sign of that as yet.
As usual, the rioting was encouraged by numerous social media posts, that no doubt included a lot of false information about foreigners getting "preferential treatment" while locals miss out.
Hopefully the rioters have already got tired of rioting and Ballymena and Portadown will return to their normal uneventful daily lives.
I thought of you when I saw this on the news.
ReplyDeleteIt's the same the whole world over - generally most people just want to get on with their lives peacefully; the problem with this is that it somehow allows the nutters to rip the world up whilst the rest of us sit passively admiring our gardens, or window boxes.
Sx
Ms Scarlet: Too true, if we just retreat into our peaceful lives, the lunatics are free to cause as much havoc as they like. All we can do is rely on the police to keep order. But they can often be very heavy-handed.
DeleteWe are so over "peaceful" protests and rioting. The urban residents end up being the victims, while the protesters go back to their sleepy suburbs. And yes, social media definitely flames the fires.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: That's about right. And of course union leaders, protest organisers etc who put other people in the firing line but keep well out of the mayhem themselves.
DeleteThey were such sad scenes.
ReplyDeleteLiz: Very sad. Why do people have so little respect for the communities they're part of that they're happy to cause as much damage as possible?
DeleteIt seems this behavior may be viral.
ReplyDeleteSandra: Yes indeed, viral in both senses - one, that people copy other people's destructive behaviour and two, that they're influenced by umpteen social media posts and so-called "influencers".
DeleteThis is why we need a very strong presence of law and order on our streets. Thugs feel that they can do whatever they can and harrass people and businesses.
ReplyDeleteThere is no excuse for it anywhere.
Liam: Absolutely, the police should be dispersing these rioters before they have a chance to cause havoc.
DeleteRioting is never the answer.
ReplyDeleteMary: Quite so. Usually it just inflames the situation and makes everything worse.
DeleteIt must be soul destroying
ReplyDeleteJohn: It must be. Especially for those from other countries who've been living peacefully in Northern Ireland for years and then suddenly they're picked on.
DeleteNick, I agree with Bijoux's earlier comment and your own that so much disruption is flamed more by news accounts. It is sad that neighborhoods of those who had nothing to do with the rioting had to be disrupted.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: That's right. They harass people who have nothing to do with their grievances and just frighten people for no good reason.
Delete