From racist murals beneath the Union Jack declaring “Islam is Heathen”, to immigrant and non-white families being burned out of their homes, it appears that a new frontier of sectarian divide has emerged. Resting on racial fault lines, the topic of immigration has seized Northern Ireland. In recent years, the region has been disproportionately concerned (compared with Ireland or the UK) about what some groups see as uncontrolled immigration. Why is it that this particular issue has captured Northern Ireland and, more confounding, why is it that unionists display more negative attitudes towards immigrants and ethnic target groups compared with nationalists?
According to a survey conducted by the Belfast Telegraph, 82 per cent of unionists believe the current level of immigration is too high, compared to just 13 per cent of nationalists.
This was the third summer of anti-immigrant violence in Northern Ireland. Although it is particularly concentrated, the growth of this movement is not unique to the region but is rather a part of a broader pattern in the UK and across Europe, where the flames of racist unrest are fanned online by right-wing voices. Northern Ireland was created within a frame of violence, existing as it does today because of years of sectarian conflict, so it is no wonder that violence is one of the initial reactions to encouraged hate and perceived threat.
In 2024, in response to a horrific knife attack in Southport in England in which three young girls were killed by Axel Rudakubana, a British citizen of Rwandan descent, violent protestors took to the streets of Belfast where foreign-owned businesses were burned, and immigrant families were forced out of their homes by predominantly unionist mobs (though many nationalists too took part). Last summer, racist riots in Ballymena, a predominantly working-class unionist area, marked some of the worst disturbances since the Good Friday Agreement; while the anti-immigrant riots that took place in Northern Ireland in June this year saw a concerningly coordinated violent protest with, dare I say, sophisticated precautions taken against surveillance.
Racialised crime has now surpassed sectarian crime in Northern Ireland, and last year, a staggering 2,561 racially motivated crimes were committed, starkly surpassing the Republic’s 780. In contrast with these figures is the fact that “ethnic and non-white communities” account for only 3.4 per cent of Northern Ireland’s population (the whitest in the UK) compared to 24 per cent of the South’s. Northern Ireland’s immigrant population is practically non-existent, so why is it that race is such a pertinent cause of public unrest and violence?
Northern Ireland’s immigration debate feeds on sectarian tensions, which, as evidenced by the ongoing Drumcree standoff between the loyalist Orange Order and nationalist residents, remain rife. As a result of decades of conflict, nationalists and unionists are excessively defensive in their sense of community and culture, which inevitably feeds into a distrust of individuals deemed “outsiders”. Could it be that immigrants, asylum seekers and non-white members of the community are a new victim of the underlying anger between nationalists and unionists? Perhaps; but what is unusual is the uneven distribution of racial tension between the two groups, an imbalance that has existed for decades.
An article published by the Guardian in 2011 documents unionist violence, then mostly perpetrated against the Chinese community. Loyalist paramilitaries “ran the streets,” and though some neighbours expressed regret, constant surveillance scared them out of solidarity. One likened it to Nazi Germany. This was at a time when Northern Ireland’s population was 99 per cent white and yet it held the UK record for the highest rate of racist attacks. How is it that 15 years later, this situation has been allowed not only to continue, but to worsen? In a talk held at Queen’s University, the continued normalisation and acceptance of racism in Northern Ireland was discussed. It was suggested that the government’s commitment to stability between nationalists and unionists “perpetuates blindness to other identity groups.” Racism in Northern Ireland could not be more blatant, so why is it that the government continues to turn a blind eye?
It is this negligence that provides an excuse for anti-immigrant groups, and the line of many is that they have no option but to turn to violence because of the government’s failure to adequately address or calm concerns over immigration. In fact, in recent years, certain unionist politicians have begun feeding into this very idea, having found that it resonates with their base, all the while legitimising racist disinformation and making it acceptable to intimidate immigrants. When this is the case, one cannot be shocked when an effigy of a mosque is burned, or an entire Roma community, under threat, is forced to flee its Belfast home.
Another common unionist explanation for higher levels of racism regards housing. The higher presence of HMOs (“house in multiple occupation”, in which at least three individuals from different households live and share facilities) in unionist areas is often cited as the reason for higher levels of anti-immigrant sentiment. Though the majority of HMOs are used to house students, they have become a flashpoint in the immigration debate, as approximately 250 of these residences are used to house asylum seekers and immigrants across Northern Ireland. Due to security and privacy concerns, there is insufficient evidence to support the claim that more are present in unionist areas, and its accuracy is highly doubtful, as with many claims from anti-immigrant right-wing groups.
Unionists now make up the minority of Northern Ireland’s population, whereas they had historically been the majority. According to Katy Hayward, a professor of political sociology at Queen’s University, Belfast, it is this heightened insecurity that is behind the eruption of anti-immigrant sentiment in unionist Northern Ireland, particularly amongst the working class. This would suggest that unionists’ waning political power within Northern Ireland accounts in part for the difference.
Northern Ireland’s nationalist community too is experiencing a growth in racist and anti-immigrant sentiment and violence, though it does not compare to that of the unionist community.
The immigration debate, which has caught fire in recent years, is one of the most fraught topics in politics today, surrounded by an increasingly concerning level of violence. Though education and the regulation of disinformation on social media seem the easy solution, the problem itself stems from far deeper ideological roots. The simplicity of humanity has been obscured by a cloak of borders and racial, economic and political faux-complexity. Though Northern Ireland is not unique in its experience, its racial conflict within the sectarian battle suggests that at this rate, tensions are not going anywhere anytime soon.
