AS the dust settles on yet another round of violence here, let’s consider the “legitimate concerns” of those who took to the streets.

We’re told that our culture is under threat from immigrants of a non-white skin colour (our population is 97% white).

Which part of our culture would that be, then? The predominant one – indeed, what Northern Ireland is most (in)famous for – is religious bigotry and the division, irrational hatreds, threats and violence that flow from it.

Surely, if immigrants can help change that, we should be welcoming them with open arms.

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And something we’ve topped a Europe-wide league table on is violence against women and girls.

Since 2020, more than 30 women have been killed here. Without exception, the perpetrators were white-skinned, locally-born men. (Research has shown that 98% of women and girls in Northern Ireland have suffered violence or abuse at some point in their lifetime.)

Is violence against woman and girls not another part of our culture that needs changed?

Despite these appalling statistics, our local variants on Tommy Robinson will declare, without the slightest hint of a red face, that immigrants from some countries don’t respect women and girls.

© The Irish News