There is tremendous violence in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. Know the reason behind this.
Demonstration continues in Northern Ireland (AFP)
Protest has raged in Northern Ireland in recent times. The youth have hurled brick, firecrackers and gasoline bombs at the police and set cars and buses on fire. At the same time, the police, retaliating, have used rubber bullets and water canons on the protesters. However, there was peace on the streets on Friday night. After the death of Prince Philip, the leaders appealed to the protesters to maintain peace. But some youths threw stones at the police and incidents of sporadic violence were also seen in the capital Belfast.
In such a situation, the question arises that what has happened in Northern Ireland that there has been so much anger within the people. Actually, the reason for all this is Brexit. Post-Brexit trade tensions and worsening relations between the parties in Belfast’s power-sharing Protestant-Catholic government led to tensions. The result of this is that tremendous violence is taking place in the country. The violence on the streets of Belfast has brought back memories of the decades-long Catholic-Protestant dispute. A peace settlement was reached in 1998, but it did not end the dispute completely. Let us understand the entire sequence of events in a sequential manner.
Why are Northern Ireland an uncontrolled place?
Geographically, Northern Ireland is part of Ireland. But politically it is part of Britain. Ireland, which had been under Britain’s dominance for a long time, gained independence from colonization 100 years ago. 26 of Ireland’s 32 counties became Roman Catholic dominated countries. At the same time, six counties located in the northern part of Ireland remained with Britain. Protestant people are the majority in these parts. Northern Ireland’s Catholic minorities faced discrimination in jobs, housing and other areas in a Protestant-run country.
A Catholic civil rights movement demanded a change in the country, but they had to face drastic action by the government and police. Then some people from both Catholic and Protestant parties formed armed groups. Both sides carried out bombing and firing and violence began. The British Army was deployed in the early 70s. The conflict then ensued between a pro-Irish Republican militia, a paramilitary holding Northern Ireland with Britain, and the British Army. The period of violence continued till 1998 and then a peace agreement was reached.
How did Brexit spoil things?
After Britain broke away from the European Union, the root of the dispute became Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is the only part of Britain that borders any country in the European Union. There is an open Irish border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, where people and goods move freely. In this way, people living in Northern Ireland feel both at home in Ireland and Britain.
On being out of the European Union, there has now been to create new barriers and investigations on trade in Britain. But Britain and the European Union agreed that this would not happen on the border of Northern Ireland. The reason behind this is the peace process. After this, the British federalists began to worry that if this happens, Britain’s position in Northern Ireland may be weakened. It may also pose a danger of uniting Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Why does violence erupt in Northern Ireland now?
The violence mainly took place in and around Protestant areas around Belfast and in the second city of Northern Ireland, Londonderry. However, the violence quickly spread to Catholic areas as well. Britain will be financially separate from the European Union on 31 December. After this the new trade system became a bottleneck for the Federalists of Northern Ireland, who want to stay in Britain. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were some business problems.
Border crews working at Northern Ireland’s ports were temporarily recalled. Actually, these employees were getting threats to leave from here. Relations between the parties in the post-Brexit trade rules and the Belfast-sharing Protestant-Catholic government have deteriorated.
The controversial situation in Northern Ireland has come under discussion after Britain split from the European Union. Here some people are identified as British and they want to remain part of Britain. At the same time, some people consider themselves Irish and they want to be a part of the neighboring Republic of Ireland which is a member of the European Union. Because of this violence is taking place.
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