First and Deputy First Minister condemn Connswater incidents

The First and Deputy First Minister are among the politicians condemning recent incidents in east Belfast, which police are treating as race hate crimes.

The PSNI says it has stepped up patrols, after attacks on two cars in the Connswater area on Monday.

Michelle O'Neill and Emma Little Pengelly were asked about the incidents during their Stormont scrutiny committee.

The session on Wednesday was the first meeting of the Executive Office Committee since Stormont's return after summer recess.

The First Minister said the recent scenes were 'alarming:'

"This is about people who have come here, this is about communities that live here all their lives, this is about how do we have a cohesive society and how do we dispel some of the nonsense that leads to some of the dangerous things that we see on the streets.

"What we saw at Connswater the other day is something that makes me very alarmed about potentially where this all could go."

Meanwhile the Deputy First Minister also condemned the scenes.

Emma Little Pengelly said: "I think it's incredibly important that there is political leadership where we are standing speaking absolutely united in saying that all racism is wrong and that all threat and intimidation and violence is wrong.

"It's saddening how many times that we have to come out and condemn things because we don't want those things happening and the fact that it's on such a regular basis is dismaying."

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