“Stop the illegal migrants – we need to protect our children – we stand together”. Rathcoole signs reading “Anyone facilitating the settlement of Muslims or illegals in our areas will be held responsible” (in the same style as the Shankill signs seen in Not A Dumping Ground) were removed by police after complaints from community members (Belfast Media). The style of placard referring only to “illegal immigrants” (shown above) remains.
“Protecting children” might be a reference to the knife attack on a dance studio in Southport, England, in late July, in which three children died and eight more were injured; misinformation on social media (falsely) identified the attack as Muslim and an asylum-seeker (Independent); he is a Cardiff-born teenager of Rwandan parentage (WP). Several days of rioting followed the attack, including in Belfast.
See also: Stop The Boats in north Belfast, in connection with the UK’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda | Protect Our Children sticker in east Belfast from February.
(“One big clean up” is the name of a previous campaign against dog fouling; A&N’s current campaign is called “Dog Watch“.)
Green End, Rathcoole, Newtownabbey
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