Séamas O'Reilly: I remember when Catholics were chased out of their homes by loyalist gangs

Belfast still has an ethnic minority tally of less than 7% — a significant proportion of whom were either born there, or are overseas students on temporary visas

Séamas O'Reilly: 'There is no material or political condition which makes the actions of these rioters explicable without “racism” being the most important single component.' Picture: Orfhlaith Whelan

Riots spread across England for the past week, their purported launchpad being the horrific murder of three young girls in Southport.

Fake reports from online disinformation accounts claimed that the attacker was a Muslim migrant who had arrived via small boat, but he was soon revealed to be a Cardiff-born teenager whose parents are Rwandan Christians. This clarification did nothing to assuage the rioters, whose growing violence remained aimed universally at migrants and Muslims.