Stormont accused of ‘fuelling the fire’ by refusing to debate migration issues

A Northern Ireland MLA has strongly criticised the Stormont Assembly for failing to address public concerns around undocumented migration, warning that continued political inaction is stoking tensions and unrest in local communities.

Speaking during Members’ Statements on Monday, TUV North Antrim MLA Timothy Gaston addressed recent disorder in Ballymena and linked the events to long-standing concerns over immigration policy and public representation.

“Last week’s disorder in Ballymena saddened me,” Mr Gaston said. “A town I am proud to represent made headlines for the wrong reasons, leaving destruction and heartbreak, including for young men facing prosecution. I condemn the violence. I deplore racism. Violence is never the answer.”

However, Mr Gaston said political leadership at Stormont had contributed to growing frustration, claiming that a refusal to engage meaningfully with constituents’ concerns around undocumented migration had undermined trust in the institutions.

“But this Assembly is part of the problem,” he told MLAs. “When criminals walk free — some from the Maze to Ministerial limos — is it any wonder people think violence pays? It’s hypocrisy for Ms. O’Neill to condemn Ballymena’s unrest while commemorating IRA terrorist Thomas McElwee, who burned Yvonne Dunlop, a young mother, to death in the town.”

The TUV representative accused both Alliance and Nationalist parties of dismissing earlier warnings.

“I raised undocumented migration in Ballymena a year ago. The response? Jeering from Alliance and Nationalist benches. They’ve learned I won’t be silenced, but nothing else has changed,” he said.

Mr Gaston expressed frustration over what he characterised as a lack of willingness to even hold a “mature debate on migration”, particularly concerning undocumented migration from the Republic of Ireland.

“Without mature debate on migration — especially undocumented migrants crossing from the Republic with zero checks — tensions will grow,” he warned.

Taking aim at the media, Mr Gaston dismissed reports that no such influx exists. “The BBC claims there’s no influx. That’s nonsense. Don’t cite documentation to disprove undocumented migration. Stop gaslighting the public,” he said.

He criticised public representatives who, in his view, had failed to understand or acknowledge the lived experiences of those in affected communities.

“Don’t tell people what they see isn’t real. Don’t call representatives racist for speaking out, then act shocked when locals feel this House won’t listen to — much less respond — to their concerns. And don’t send South Belfast’s MP to Ballymena like an anthropologist to film the local environment, then deliver her lecture from her own natural habitat of BBC studios.”

Mr Gaston concluded with a stark warning for fellow Assembly members:

“Keep ignoring these issues, but know this: for all your liberal talk, by refusing to so much as facilitate debate around immigration you are fuelling the fire.”

The comments come as political leaders continue to respond to recent incidents in Ballymena, where tensions have flared in what some local representatives describe as a symptom of broader socio-economic and political grievances.