Talking points for navigating conversations around the attack in North Belfast:

1). The brutal attack which took place in North Belfast last night is appalling. No matter who we are or what we look like, we all deserve to walk down the street without fear. The person responsible must be held accountable and brought to justice.

2). It's clear that anti-immigrant and far-right actors have moved quickly to use this attack for their own end. They don't care about the people involved. They want to drive fear, gain the headlines, to distract from the fact that they have nothing to offer ordinary people on the ground

3.) However, we also saw the best of us last night with people risking their own safety by acting quickly to stop the attack. We know what keeps us safe: living in communities where people of every background have decent work that pays enough, secure homes, good schools, healthcare, and where we address problems with solutions like funding for skilled youth and community workers, social supports and proper training programmes. Right now, we need our political representatives to work together and deliver that change for our communities.