Minister under pressure over Facebook post ahead of Larne attack

A Stormont minister has rejected calls for him to resign from a fellow Executive minster, over a social media post about the location of migrant families who fled their homes.

People caught up in clashes in Ballymena were temporarily moved to Larne Leisure Centre on Wednesday. It was later attacked and set on fire.

Communities Minister Gordon Lyons of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said he "strongly hit back at any notion" he had revealed the use of this facility.

Sinn Féin Finance Minister John O'Dowd is among those calling for Lyons to consider his position claiming he "failed to show leadership".

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said Lyons should reflect on his comments, while the Green Party called for Lyons to resign.

DUP leader Gavin Robinson told BBC Radio Ulster's Talkback programme Lyons has been "fundamentally misrepresented".

The attack on Larne Leisure Centre came during a third night of violence in Northern Ireland.

Fireworks, bottles and bricks have been thrown at police during the disorder.

The worst of the rioting was in Ballymena, but unrest also spread to other towns, including Larne, about 20 miles (30km) away, on Wednesday evening.

The fire service said that fire damage to the centre had been "contained mainly to the front reception but there was extensive smoke damage".

In a statement on Wednesday night, Mid and East Antrim Borough Council said the families placed at the centre had all been "safely relocated" and were no longer using the centre.

However, Lyons has been criticised for an earlier Facebook post in which he said he had been made aware that "a number of individuals were temporarily moved to Larne Leisure Centre".

Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the post would not "helps matters at all", adding "we all have a responsibility to act in a sensible way in these circumstances".

"He might want to reflect on what he said."

O'Dowd said the post was "unacceptable", accusing him of lacking in "sympathy or compassion" for the families who had fled their homes.

"He presented a poor image of himself" he added.

Justice Minister Naomi Long also criticised the communities minister, adding: "I don't think his comments were measured or wise".

"It may have been in the public domain, but by naming it, he actually elevated it and that is the responsibility that comes with being a public figure and a minister.

"To say he wasn't consulted, to me, is just an extraordinary statement."

Alliance MLA Danny Donnelly who was in the leisure centre when it was attacked said it was "incredibly reckless and dangerous to highlight the location of where these people were being kept and brought to a place of safety".

The SDLP's Matthew O'Toole said he would refer Lyons to the standards commissioner over his comments, saying "lives are at stake".

The Committee for Communities passed a vote of no confidence in the minister on Thursday morning.

It was tabled by Sinn Féin MLA Maolíosa McHugh who said he proposed it as the minister had implied "that he or his party needs to be consulted before one considers the use of a council facility to accommodate people in total distress".

Green Party councillor Áine Groogan accused the minister of choosing to "stir division and deflect from his own failures".

"This isn't leadership. It's cowardice. And it proves what many already know: Gordon Lyons is unfit for public office and should resign."

Lyons has defended his comments saying the information was in the public domain, and had been confirmed by the local council.

"I will very strongly hit back at any notion that I had revealed the use of this facility to the public when the protest was already planned, when everybody knew what was happening," Lyons told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme.

He said his post was a clarification to explain that while the centre had been used temporarily, that was no longer the case: "My message was posted because rumours had been circulating that the leisure centre was being turned into a permanent centre."

He added he was attempting to "defuse that situation" and said he had appealed for calm in his statement.

Lyons also condemned those behind what he called the "shameful" attack on the leisure centre.

DUP leader Robinson said there is "no reason" for Lyons to resign and that he has his "full confidence".

He rejected any insinuation that Lyons identified the leisure centre being used as a place where vulnerable people were being given refuge.

"This is how it has been misconstrued, or manipulated to make some cheap, political point," said Robinson.

"Larne Leisure Centre was used as a refuge for people moved from Ballymena yesterday morning and that was known locally.

"Gordon [Lyons] has been accused of revealing the location, but he did not."

Robinson added: "To all the politicians who have jumped on this passing bandwagon of factual inaccuracy and presented it in such a malevolent way - for them to do so is not only misguided but dangerous."