As communities across Northern Ireland reel from the aftermath of days of violent disorder, campaigners are accusing the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) of failing to act on warnings about anti-immigration activists targeting homes in Belfast. The allegations come as a monitoring group, The Accountability Project Northern Ireland, reveals it sent dozens of reports to the PSNI over eight months, detailing growing hostility towards houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) by far-right groups.
The reports, starting in November 2025, focused on the Newtownabbey area north of Belfast, where some of the most severe disorder has occurred. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Alliance assembly member John Blair described the scene as 'a mob on a rampage of violence and destruction'.
The monitoring group cited Facebook posts from anti-immigration groups in the region, with one post claiming that HMOs in Glengormley would be 'treated as fair game and dealt with accordingly', labelling those funding or assisting the properties as 'equally guilty'.
Glengormley was among the areas affected by anti-immigration disorder over recent days, with masked men setting homes ablaze. Anti-racist campaigners expressed outrage at the PSNI's inaction, despite months of warnings about escalating tensions and racist language used against asylum seekers and refugees.
The monitoring group warned the PSNI that anti-immigration activists' rhetoric was becoming increasingly hostile and racially charged, with posts portraying migrants as a threat to local communities and urging opposition to properties believed to house them. The failure to act on these warnings has raised questions about the effectiveness of the PSNI's strategy in addressing this emerging threat.