Youth club closed after masked gang shout sectarian abuse

Stephen Dallas, from the Bytes Project, has called on local authorities to de-escalate the situation in Glengormley

A group of youths wearing balaclavas shouted sectarian abuse at a young person taking part in a cross-community project.

It happened at the Bytes Project, on the Antrim Road, in Glengormley, County Antrim, on Tuesday evening.

Stephen Dallas, from the Bytes Project, said that about 30 young people, aged between 12 and 17, and three members of staff were at the premises at the time.

There were no reports of physical injuries and staff were able to diffuse the situation.

"But we need to de-escalate this and we need to know what to do if this happens again," the youth worker told BBC News NI.

"We have had to keep our Glengormley hub closed this weekend, on Friday and Saturday, for the safety or our staff and the young people we work with.

"We have been working in Glengormley for three years and have never had a situation like this before.

"Our premises on the Antrim Road is on a mixed line were young people from different communities might feel slightly unsafe, which is why we are here to create a safe space."

The Bytes Project has 13 centres across Northern Ireland, attended by about 3,000 young people from all communities and ethnic groups, Mr Dallas said.

It helps young people gain life skills, in particular digital skills and using AI in an education context.

The Bytes Project on the Antrim Road in Glengormley

"This project is for everybody. We are astounded that we have found ourselves in this situation," he added.

He called on police, the local council and other statutory bodies to come together and help diffuse the situation.

Police treat incident as hate crime

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said the incident was being treated as a hate crime.

Following a report, they attended the scene but said the group made off when Neighbourhood Policing Team officers arrived.

"A youth club leader reported that the group had made a sectarian threat towards a young person in attendance at the club," police said.

"Officers liaised with local partner agencies and continued to proactively patrol the area throughout the evening."

Sgt McAleese added: "It is absolutely unacceptable that a young person attending a mixed religion youth club should be left in fear.

"Our collaboration with community partners around anti-social behaviour issues in the area is ongoing, alongside our inquiries into this incident.

"We would appeal to anyone who was in the area at the time who may have information relevant to the investigation to contact us."

The Bytes Project premises in Glengormley is close to the Alliance Party headquarters which was damaged last week in what police described as a "sectarian-motivated hate crime".