In Belfast, ancient grudges and new furies leave a city burned Submitted by Oscar Rickett on Wed, 06/17/2026 - 12:01 In Northern Ireland's capital, locals described a growing racism problem made worse by an absent government A street in east Belfast on 12 June 2026, after homes were attacked and cars burned during the race riots (Oscar Rickett/MEE) On In the streets off east Belfast's Newtownards Road, houses are blackened and boarded up.  Cars sit burned to their shells. Ash is in the air. You can still smell the burning.  The riots last week in Northern Ireland's capital took place almost entirely in loyalist Protestant areas like this, triggered by the stabbing of a Belfast man, Stephen Ogilvie.