Alistair Hardaker | Image: Northern Ireland War Memorial (Boselaphus - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0)
The Northern Ireland War Memorial has postponed Belfast Learning Festival events, with Ulster Museum among National Museums NI sites closing early amid unrest.
The Northern Ireland War Memorial museum in Belfast has announced that its scheduled events have been postponed until a later date following unrest in Belfast.
The museum said on its Facebook page that two events scheduled for today and tomorrow, both part of the Belfast Learning Festival, will not go ahead, and it would close from 2pm.
The events’ postponements follow violent disorder and rioting in Belfast on Tuesday night, which saw homes attacked and cars set alight.
The museum wrote on Facebook earlier today: “Due to ongoing unrest in Belfast and threats of further unrest this afternoon and evening, the Northern Ireland War Memorial has made the difficult decision to cancel our Belfast Learning Festival events scheduled for Wednesday 10 June and Thursday 11 June.”
The museum continued: “We are very sorry for any disappointment or inconvenience this may cause. The safety of our visitors, participants, staff, and facilitators is our priority.”
The museum said both events will be rescheduled as soon as possible. The museum itself is scheduled to reopen tomorrow.
Ulster Museum, Ulster Folk Museum, and Ulster Transport Museum, all part of National Museums NI, have also announced early closures today.
A National Museums NI spokesperson said: “We have made some temporary adjustments to opening hours in line with operational considerations and to support the safety of visitors and staff. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will communicate any further changes through our usual channels.”
The disorder has drawn condemnation from senior political and police figures.
Prime minister Keir Starmer described the scenes as “shocking and completely unacceptable”, while Police Service of Northern Ireland chief constable Jon Boutcher called the rioting a “huge act of self-harm by mindless idiots”.
