Northern Ireland: rising tension within the Unionist community
Tensions have been mounting for several months within the Unionist community because of the Northern Irish protocol, this consequence of Brexit which places a border between the province and the rest of the United Kingdom.
A cut to the unity of the country for the unionist representatives.
AFP - PAUL FAITH
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
Third night of violence, Sunday evening, in certain Unionist areas of Northern Ireland.
In Belfast and Derry in particular, two cities largely marked by violence during the civil war.
The Unionists are the community attached to its union with the British Crown, as opposed to the nationalists, who want the unification of Ireland.
About thirty police officers were injured.
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With our regional correspondent
,
Émeline Vin
Tensions have been mounting for several months within the Unionist community because of the Northern Irish protocol, this
consequence of Brexit
which places a border between the province and the rest of the United Kingdom.
A cut to the unity of the country for the unionist representatives.
Two-tier justice?
On top of this latent anger, there is the feeling of a two-tier justice: last week, the police dropped the charges against twenty-four elected members of Sinn Féin, the main nationalist party.
These representatives, including Deputy Prime Minister Michelle O'Neill, attended the funeral of a former paramilitary last June, bringing together more than a thousand people when health restrictions limited the number of participants to 30.
Young adults
Last ingredient of this weekend of violence: the age of the demonstrators.
Young adults and especially children, 12, 13, 14 years old.
What to make say to the elected officials of the districts concerned that they are instrumentalized by the “big brothers”, these former loyalist paramilitaries become social workers.
The Minister of Justice calls on Monday for an end to the violence, before demonstrators are killed.
VIDEO: Clashes between Loyalist youths and police in #Carrickfergus 🇬🇧 overnight.
pic.twitter.com/7Y9aZu0KGE #BorisJohnson 🇨🇳 #Brexit #EU 🇩🇪 #BrexitSurrender #Belfast
- Sam Pye (@ freddie1999) April 5, 2021
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To listen: Brexit: tensions resurface in the United Kingdom
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