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Northern Ireland is currently experiencing one of the worst waves of violence in the region in years.
Ms. from 50 police officers were injured and at least 10 people were arrested during the protests of the past ten days in various towns and villages in Northern Ireland.
The Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom and Ireland condemned the violence and the government of Northern Ireland held a meeting on Thursday to demand “the total and immediate end“riots, as BBC journalist explains Michael hirst.
The White House has joined with the British and Irish governments in urging calm.
The US State Department has warned that the Good Friday deal, the pact that brought peace to the region in 1998, should not become “a victim” of Brexit.
Despite these calls, the clashes continued this Thursday evening, the Autonomous Police (PSNI) responding with water cannons to the attacks of rioters – aged around 12 – with gasoline bombs, stones and bricks.
Some of the images from these days in Northern Ireland are reminiscent of scenes from over 20 years ago.
The marked discontent has different causes, analysts say.
All major political parties on both sides in Northern Ireland have condemned the riots, although they are divided on the causes.
We present you some keys to understand what is going on.
1. Where does the violence take place?
Street violence, mainly carried out by trade union groups loyal to the British crown, began on March 29 in a district of Londonderry.
Since then, there have been demonstrations and riots virtually nightly in a number of cities, including Belfast, Carrickfergus, Ballymena and Newtownabbey.
Wednesday evening the confrontation degenerated into sectarian clashes in the so-called “peace lines” who separate predominantly Protestant loyalist communities, who advocate for Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK, predominantly Catholic Unionist communities, who want it to be an independent territory or join neighboring Ireland.
Authorities fear there will be deaths if the riots continue.
The riots left great material damage.
That night, the climax of the clashes was reached with the kidnapping and City bus fire in Belfast and the assault on a press photographer, says Hirst.
Parts of Northern Ireland remain divided along sectarian lines, 23 years after the Good Friday Agreement largely ended the unrest, a conflict that lasted for at least 30 years and claimed the lives of more of 3,500 people.
The peace agreement ended the armed confrontation and led to the formation of a government split between loyalists and trade unionists.
Despite the relative peace and prosperity the Northern Irish have enjoyed in recent years, bigotry and divisions have not gone away.
2. Who is behind the protests?
Although there is no clear indication that the protests are orchestrated by an organized group, the violence has been concentrated in areas where criminal gangs linked to loyal paramilitaries have significant influence.
The violence has been concentrated in areas where criminal gangs linked to the loyalist paramilitaries have significant influence.
It is increasingly evident that high-ranking figures in organizations like the Ulster Defense Association and the Ulster Voluntary Force allow the unrest to continue.
3. What does this have to do with Brexit?
Unionist leaders have linked the violence to accumulated tensions on the Irish Sea border imposed as a result of the Brexit deal between the UK and the EU.
The new trade border is the result of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was introduced to avoid the need for a physical border on the island of Ireland.
This avoids having to establish controls at the Irish border, as EU customs rules apply at ports in Northern Ireland.
Unionists say protocol hurts trade and threatens the place of Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom.
In March, the Council of Loyalist Communities, which represents the region’s three main Protestant paramilitary groups, announced that it was temporarily withdrawing its support for the Good Friday deal over concerns over the Brexit protocol.
The Council called on UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to do the same, while saying he continues to respect the truce.
4. Are there other factors at play?
Some union leaders attribute the violence to the decision not to punish leaders of the Republican Party Sinn Fin – which has pledged for a reunified Ireland – for violating pandemic restrictions to attend the funeral of a former head of the service. Irish Republican Army (IRA) intelligence in June. from last year.
Bobby Storey’s funeral drew 2,000 people, including Senior Deputy Minister Michelle O’Neill, at a time when strict Covid-19 restrictions were in place that limited the number of people who could gather in public.
2,000 people took to the streets at the funeral of former IRA intelligence chief Bobby Storey in June 2020.
Some voices accused police of having double standards after the prosecutor said there would be no charge.
Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader and Northern Ireland Chief Minister Arlene Foster said she did not share this view but called for the resignation of PSNI leader Simon Byrne.
Byrne acknowledges the public’s anger, but refused to resign.
Calling for an end to the street riots, Byrne said he was “open to dialogue” with anyone who is willing to work with him “to resolve the issues facing the community.”
Addressing the protesters, tweet: “Get home before someone is seriously injured. Violence is not the answer. ”
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