Violence in Northern Ireland Returns

[ElectionObserver]

The Good Friday Agreement brought peace, but it didn't bring true reconciliation.

Just look at the place today. So many things are determined by religion in everyday life. 93% of children go to segregated schools. People live in different areas and 'peace walls' are required in Belfast where communities meet. Some might have thought that these were things from the past, but segregation in education is actually greater today than it was in 1997.

The current trouble seems to have been kicked off by a combination of:
- Brexit and the 'Irish sea border' which places NI closer to the Republic than to the UK in terms of goods (This is the main cause IMO).
- The funeral of Eamon McCourt in Derry and the attendance of all of the senior Sinn Fein leadership which was banned due to Covid regulations.
- A lot of bored kids whose schools were shut and who, if they were late teens/ early 20s, found it basically impossible to get a job.
- The continuing simmering undercurrent of anger between the two communities and those communities and the PSNI.
- The feeling amongst many unionists that Catholics/ nationalists now have the upper hand in Northern Ireland for the first time in NI history. There are many example of this, but the sea border is the key one.

Since 1997, Northern Ireland has been a bit like dry tinder just waiting for the spark to set it off. At the moment, it's just kids with stones, brings, fireworks and petrol. We'll have to see if this develops any further as the senior leadership on the unionist/ protestant side looks like it is doing very little to calm tensions.