Council areas can apply for £20,000 funding after race riots in June
A councillor has warned that money going to local authorities to support social and racial cohesion following the recent social unrest in Ballymena cannot be imposed upon communities without prior consultation.
At the meeting of the full Ards and North Down Borough Council, held this week at Bangor Castle, UUP Councillor Peter Wray said: “There is nothing that annoys a community or community group more than to see their name on an application, whenever they haven’t been consulted about it beforehand.”
At the meeting elected representatives were recommended by council officers to accept the additional funding from the Stormont Executive Office for its Good Relations Action Plan, “to be used to develop projects that will support social and racial cohesion in the borough.”
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Councillor agreed to accept the £20,000 cheque from Stormont. The officer report mentioned money going to Bloomfield and Whitehill in Bangor, and Redburn in Holywood, but when Councillor Wray asked if consultation with those communities had been conducted, the officer could not give a detailed reply.
In June this year, two weeks of disorder saw riots breaking out in Ballymena, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey, Larne and Portadown, with rioters focusing violence and intimidation towards ethnic minorities and police. The rioting came after two Romanian-speaking teenagers were charged with attempted rape after allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Ballymena.
The rioting involved a litany of alleged racially-motivated hate crimes, and the disorder made headlines around the world. A leisure centre in Larne, which had been providing emergency shelter for those displaced from Ballymena, was attacked by around 100 people and set on fire.
PSNI statistics for the last 365 days for Ards and North Down District show hate crime has risen by 58.6 percent (58 to 92 crimes), while hate incidents (without crime) has risen by 36.1 percent (133 to 181 incidents). Race Hate accounted for 110 of the 181 incidents and actually rose by 39.2 percent.
Following the June unrest, the Executive Office offered to support councils in delivering projects to support social and racial cohesion as part of wider delivery under the “District Councils Good Relations Plan,” with an additional resource of up to £20K per council was made available. The priority focus of the funding is to involve local groups in projects delivering “fast paced” interventions to improve social and racial cohesion in the local area.
At the Ards and North Down Council meeting, SDLP Councillor Joe Boyle successfully proposed the council accept the £20,000 Stormont fund. He said: “I would like to thank our officers for getting in through a small window of opportunity, and I look forward to seeing how they believe that extra £20,000 to best use.”
UUP Councillor Peter Wray said at the meeting: “This is very welcome. I know that schools and community organisations and sports clubs have been reaching out for help in terms of some of this stuff, of education. I hope this will help.
“This particularly became an issue following the unrest in Ballymena, which then led to graffiti and attacks within our own borough, which is quite frankly disgusting and utterly depressing. But let’s focus on the good.”
He asked if the three communities listed for the money, Bloomfield and Whitehill in Bangor, and Redburn in Holywood, were consulted beforehand.
He added: “Were these groups consulted beforehand? Was there some preparatory work or consultation done with these community groups? There is nothing that annoys a community or community group more than to see their name on an application, whenever they haven’t been consulted about it beforehand.
“There is nothing that annoys them more than when a body or an organisation assumes they will be able to deliver something, without consulting with the people who actually live there.
“I understand councillors will be engaged through this. Do not get me wrong, I will be the first in line to participate in this. But this is the first we are hearing about it.
“Perhaps it would have been prudent if there had been some communication beforehand. I understand there is a tight window in terms of the application, but I just think some work around this before now would have been a good idea, to be quite honest.”
A council officer at the full council meeting replied: “I have to apologise, I don’t have the details to answer that, but I will make sure the Head of Service approaches the member directly with the answer.”
Green Councillor Barry McKee said: “I welcome money coming into the borough for something which is much needed for a lot of people. I am certainly coming across a lot of misinformation out there, from people who I meet in the community talking about integration, and from what people are saying online, with not the greatest (community) interests in terms of trying to have people get along together.
“From my impression of programmes detailed in the report, a lot of thought has gone into things you can do with a small amount of money, to target the things that are causing issues. I take on board what Councillor Wray has said about those particular areas that are targeted, and that is a pretty sensible way to approach this, but on the whole it is great to see this line of work.”
In the application for the funding, Ards and North Down Council officers wrote: “Ards and North Down Borough Council areas are host to asylum seekers in a local hotel. Protests have been a regular occurrence outside the hotel since 2022.
“Although peaceful to date, the number of protestors attending has increased. Those present are often misinformed about the service users in the hotel and this can be observed by their banners/placards.
“ANDBC has also recently seen an increase in racial targeting on individuals living in local areas and towards landlords who are renting their houses as HMO’s. Graffiti, classed as race hate, in a number of local estates has also increased.
“Funding could be used to help to address social cohesion and assist the team with resources to use in local communities to help those living there understand the culture of newcomers being located in their communities, while helping newcomers become aware of the culture in NI.
“Ballyholme Beach in Bangor has experienced racial ASB which was amplified through social media, including derogatory comments and inciting hatred. Tensions are also increasing between asylum seekers within the hotel between cultures.
“It can be difficult to communicate especially as English is not their first language together with the uncertainty of the future for those housed there. Concerns have also been raised in relation to those using social media to target individuals working locally with asylum seekers and resulting in fears for safety. Local businesses have also witnessed an increase in race hate incidents.”
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