Thousands of people filled the streets of Belfast on Saturday in a powerful show of unity against the anti‑immigrant riots that shook parts of Northern Ireland earlier in the week. The peaceful demonstration came after masked groups set fire to homes and vehicles following a stabbing allegedly carried out by a Sudanese asylum seeker.
The attack left a local man partly blind, and while officials urged calm, far‑right agitators seized on the incident to fuel unrest. Rioters torched a bus, hurled bricks, bottles and firebombs at police, and targeted houses they believed were occupied by immigrants. More than two dozen people were left homeless, and 12 police officers were injured in what authorities condemned as “thuggery.”
Amid the tension, newlyweds Cara Bell and Matthew Richardson stepped out of Belfast City Hall after their ceremony and joined the rally a moment they described as symbolic after witnessing the week’s violence.
“This is not the general feeling of people in Belfast,” Bell said. “It’s been a week where you’ve seen the worst of humanity and the best of humanity.”
The unrest was not confined to Northern Ireland. Across the UK, far‑right figures encouraged protests, leading to disorder in Glasgow, where minorities were targeted and a mosque was forced into lockdown.
On Saturday, an anti‑racism coalition mobilised thousands in Glasgow to “stand up to the far right,” confronting a much smaller group of mostly men who appeared to make Nazi salutes and shout anti‑Muslim chants. The crowd responded with chants of “Nazi scum off our streets.”
The demonstrations in Belfast and Glasgow reflect a growing determination among communities to push back against extremist narratives and reclaim public spaces from those seeking to inflame racial tensions.
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