Riots across Northern Ireland in June 2025, sparked by a rape allegation against two Romanian Roma teenagers, injured 107 police officers and prompted widespread ethnic targeting.
Key Facts
- Police officers injured
- 107
- People arrested
- 56
- Remanded into custody
- 27
- AEPs fired over five nights
- 32
- Riots began
- 9 June 2025
- Duration of disorder
- Approximately two weeks
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Two Romanian Roma teenagers were charged with attempted rape after allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage girl in Ballymena, County Antrim. The charges ignited pre-existing community tensions and provided a flashpoint for disorder that rapidly spread beyond the immediate locality.
Beginning on 9 June 2025, riots erupted across multiple towns in Northern Ireland including Ballymena, Belfast, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey, Larne, and Portadown. Crowds targeted ethnic minorities and law enforcement, damaging police vehicles and properties, setting a leisure centre ablaze, and clashing repeatedly with officers over roughly two weeks.
A total of 107 police officers were injured and 56 people arrested, with 27 remanded into custody. Police deployed 32 attenuating energy projectiles across five nights of the most intense disorder. The riots drew widespread condemnation and highlighted vulnerabilities around community cohesion and ethnic minority safety in Northern Ireland.
Political Outcome
Prolonged civil disorder across Northern Ireland over approximately two weeks, with 107 police officers injured, 56 arrests, and widespread property damage before unrest subsided.