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Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Romanians leave NI after racist attacks

Up to 100 Romanians are to leave Northern Ireland after a series of racist attacks.

According to the Social Development Minister, 25 people have already left and another 75 are planning to return home.

Air fares are being paid out of an emergency fund.

Just 17 people who were caught up in the violence in Belfast last week, when families were offered temporary accommodation, have decided to stay on.

Margaret Ritchie said she deeply regretted the decision by the Romanians to leave.

She said: "We are not a racist society, but it's now time we took a serious look at ourselves.

"There is now an urgency and an imperative to build a shared society.

"We live apart. We are educated apart. And therefore it is no surprise that this is a 'them and us' attitude. We have to work to challenge that attitude. There must be total respect for political, religious and ethnic differences."

PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh said he respected the decision of the Romanian families to leave but stressed he was confident his officers had done their best to make sure they could feel safe staying.

"I respect anyone's right to live where they want to and my job is to keep them safe where they want to stay," he said.

"Indeed, having met the Romanian ambassador, he was very positive in my office with my colleagues about what we had done to keep those people safe."

Remanded

A joiner accused of intimidating the Romanian families out of their homes was remanded in custody on Tuesday.

Shane Murphy, 21, from Donegall Road, faces a second charge of acting provocatively by shouting racist comments at a rally in the city.

He denies both alleged offences, but a police officer told the court he could connect the accused with the offences.

District Judge George Conner refused to grant bail due to the risk of witness interference, although defence lawyer John Burke claimed his client was only aware of the identity of one person who had made a statement.

Murphy was remanded in custody to appear again via video-link next month.

Two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, have already appeared in court in connection with the intimidation.

Two other teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were also arrested on Tuesday and have since been released on bail pending further enquiries.

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3 Comments

At 23:49 on 23 June 2009, Gerry McCabe wrote:

The Roma would never have been here in the first place if it wasn't for Gordon's Open Door immigration policy. They wouldn't have integrated in a 100 years.

At 21:40 on 23 June 2009, ironbed wrote:

Dee, sorry to hear about the lack of repairs to your free Housing Executive home. But I think you will find that the Department of Social Development, or the DHSS paid the Romanian's expenses. Your post says a lot about the mentality in Northern Ireland that has lead to these attacks on our newly arrived immigrants. I condemn these attacks without reservation. BTW, I am also a Housing Executive tenant.

At 13:10 on 23 June 2009, Dee wrote:

Utterly ridicilious this situation has come about - should be a nation of live and let live but too much to expect from the thugs who were responsible for these attacks. The housing executive are using emergency funding to fly these people home.. Bang goes my hopes of home repairs!!