Mid and East Antrim council asked to get behind community with Ballymena riots recovery plan

Speaking at a meeting of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, Ballymena Independent Councillor Rodney Quigley asked what action has been taken to help the recovery of Ballymena since the “unrest” in June 2025.

A committee report stated previously that the “civil unrest and public disorder” which occurred in the Ballymena and Larne areas, including an arson attack at Larne Leisure Centre, following a peaceful protest in Ballymena, resulted in a reported £5m policing cost.

"The public disorder that occurred after the peaceful protest lasted a number of days and was largely targeted at minority communities within a particular area of Ballymena.”

It also said: “The disorder has had a negative impact on the community’s relationship with the PSNI and statutory agencies in general. It has also caused fear within the wider ethnic minority community.”

Cllr Quigley stated: “The council approved a recovery plan last November. What has been done to implement this plan?

"I, along with other members, have sought support from senior management team to help deliver this recovery. Do we have this support? Has the senior management team secured funding from the Executive Office or elsewhere to implement this plan? Have they met with the Executive Office to seek support for Ballymena and the wider borough?

"I was part of a launch of a new recovery plan by the Ballymena South Community Forum on 24 September. I was disappointed that no-one from the senior management team was in attendance.

"I ask on behalf of the people of Ballymena that council gets behind the community of Ballymena and helps implement their own recovery plan.”

Interim chief executive Valerie Watts replied; “On behalf of all of the senior management team, I apologise yet again for the absence of a senior manager at that event that was held in the Adair Arms.

"The council worked very hard to help pull that recovery plan together. All of the senior management team are fully behind that recovery plan. There’s too much detail in that recovery plan for me to go into specific answers as to what we are doing about it but I am very happy to bring a report back to the next full council or appropriate committee, if the councillor deems it necessary.”

Cllr Quigley replied: “I am heartened there will be something coming forth.

"Since the issues last year, council have been very helpful. They have been on the ground but we need something set in stone.

"The people of Harryville and Clonavon have suffered a lot for six or seven, maybe eight years because of the issues around the area and I feel that we need to take this seriously.

"We saw what happened because of the failure to address the issues in the run-up to the unrest. I feel that we can’t afford to take the community for granted again. I would appreciate it if we could bring something forward to see where we could go with this, especially for some sort of funding to come into the area to help.”

Ballymena Alliance Councillor Jack Gibson also asked for an update and praised the “fantastic ideas and vision” shared at the Adair Arms Hotel event.

The Executive Office sought proposals from all councils in Northern Ireland to put in place programmes/interventions “to address social and racial cohesion” following the disorder.