Belfast (AFP)

In the resolutely pro-British neighborhood of Shankill, Belfast, the North Irish unionists fear that the new Brexit agreement will stretch their ties with Britain, the cornerstone of their identity.

In this bastion of Unionism, British flags float in the streets and wall paintings commemorate the Loyalist paramilitaries who died for "the cause". Shootings, shelling ... Blood was poured into this western part of Belfast.

The Northern Ireland Unionist Party DUP supports Brexit and the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but is fiercely opposed to its divorce agreement with the European Union.

The agreement provides Northern Ireland with a special customs and tax regime to maintain trade with the neighboring Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU. But the DUP rejects any treatment that would give Northern Ireland a status different from the rest of the United Kingdom.

He especially dreads that Boris Johnson's plan does not lead to the creation of a border in the Irish Sea, isolating it from Great Britain.

Sammy Wilson, DUP deputy Brexit, said Sunday that the agreement would "cause a lot of damage to the Union," referring to the United Kingdom. "We want to go out (of the EU) as one nation, that remains our goal".

The Shankill Road is dotted with giant murals depicting loyalist gunmen or Queen Elizabeth II.

77-year-old Lucy Murray says she "has trouble understanding why they want to put a border in the sea".

"I do not agree, I think we should still be in the UK," she says. "We hope we do not have to fight for it."

According to the BBC in Northern Ireland, following the announcement of a new Brexit agreement, discussions were held between moderate and radical unionists on the option of large-scale "civil disobedience".

- "We are still British" -

The Unionists fear that Brexit will bring them closer to a unification with the Republic of Ireland.

"There is going to be a vote for a united Ireland," Iain Whiteside, owner of a gift shop, said, full of cups flanked by the Union Jack flag.

"The majority of people in Northern Ireland will soon be Catholic, this is where the country is heading," he says, as resigned.

In a research published in May, Duncan Morrow of the University of Ulster described a "trend towards a Catholic majority in Northern Ireland".

Unionism has historically been advocated by Protestants, while Catholics have generally favored the integration of Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland. Nevertheless, the link between religious affiliation and political opinions is increasingly held.

Others seem less worried about the changes in sight: their connection to the rest of the UK is a matter of history and feeling.

"Whatever happens, we're still British," says Elaine Malley, Unionist and 48-year-old mother.

The Good Friday Peace Accords, which ended three decades of communal violence in 1998, provide for the invisible border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (to the south).

If passed, the agreement obtained by Boris Johnson would preserve this condition. But, if she had the choice, Elaine Malley would prefer a border with Ireland to the south rather than a sea with Britain.

"I was born British and I will die British," she insists.

© 2019 AFP