The North Ireland capital of Belfast is still reeling from the violence that broke out following a June 8 knife attack in which a Sudanese immigrant who claimed asylum in the United Kingdom was charged with attempted murder, the BBC reported.
In response, anti-immigration demonstrators targeted multiple neighborhoods across Belfast with large immigrant populations by setting fire to multiple houses, cars, and buses and throwing rocks at police trying to contain the violence.
The riots entered a quieter phase by the night of Thursday, June 11, as police used a water cannon to disperse rioters and arrested 19 people, including a 16-year-old boy. Additional officers were also sent in from Scotland to help quell the growing unrest.
“We got word that there were going to be protests”: Oasis Travel
When riots reached a peak on Wednesday night, June 10, Belfast-based travel agency Oasis Travel closed all eight of its branches in Northern Ireland at 12:30 p.m. before reopening them by Thursday morning, June 11.
The travel agency was established in the 1980s and sells cruise packages and organized tours to multiple destinations in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. Along with storefronts in Belfast, Oasis Travel has locations in Bangor, Holywood, Hillsborough, and Warrenpoint.
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“We got word that there were going to be protests going through the streets and thought it best if we treated each shop the same — so we closed all eight branches early,” Oasis Travel Managing Director Scott McCabe said to local outlet TTG.
The decision was made primarily to protect employees who would need to go home, as well as any customers who could have wandered in and then found that the situation on the street had deteriorated. Multiple roads leading into the area were blocked throughout June 9 and 10.
“We’ve got the technology in place so we’re all working from home,” McCabe said further.
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What is happening with travel businesses in Belfast as of June 12
Oasis said visitors were coming into the offices up until they shut down at 12:30 p.m. and came back as soon as offices reopened the following day.
Travelmax, another local travel agency based in the northern commuter town of Ballymena, operated throughout June 10 and 11 but told staff to “lock up sharp and get out of town at 5 p.m.” instead of staying to work late in the evenings, Travel Weekly confirmed.
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Travelmax founder Maxine Bracewell said that June 10 was “an exceptionally busy day” with many customers coming in to book trips in the afternoon before violence started breaking out in the evening.
The decision to close early mirrors similar ones made by dozens of different businesses operating in and around Belfast, while most had begun gradually reopening by June 11 and 12. Still other travel agency and cruise package sellers operated without interruption during the worst of the demonstrations.
“We are a resilient bunch in Northern Ireland and spirits are high,” Lynsey Joy, cruise manager at Travel Solutions Belfast, told Travel Weekly regarding the decision not to close.
Related: Locals protest for airline to ‘stop flights,’ cancel certain route
