DUP’s Gordon Lyons criticised for social media post about leisure centre before it was set on fire by masked attackers
A minister in Northern Ireland has rejected calls to resign, as the display of political unity amid three nights of violence fractured after a leisure centre in Larne was set on fire.
Staff and customers, including children learning to swim, were in the building at the time. The attack coincided with violent scenes amid tensions over immigration in the nearby town of Ballymena.
Before Wednesday’s attack on the leisure centre, the DUP communities minister, Gordon Lyons, posted on social media that the building had been used to accommodate several people who had fled Ballymena, about 30 minutes away.
“As a local MLA for the area, neither I nor my DUP colleagues were made aware or consulted on this decision until late this afternoon,” he added. “Protesting is of course a legitimate right but I would encourage everyone to remain peaceful.”
