United Kingdom: Boris Johnson condemns violence in Northern Ireland
Northern Irish nationalists and unionists clash at the Peace Wall on Lanark Way in Belfast, April 7, 2021. AP - Peter Morrison
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
The British Prime Minister has condemned another night of violence in Northern Ireland, after protesters threw Molotov cocktails and a bus was set on fire in Belfast on the night of Wednesday to Thursday.
The violence comes after a week of riots which show that the fire is smoldering in the British province, where the consequences of Brexit create a feeling of betrayal among unionists attached to the crown.
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Crowds gathered on Lanark Way in Belfast "
where a bus was set on fire,
" Northern Irish police said.
“
The way to resolve disputes is through dialogue and not through violence or crime,
” Boris Johnson tweeted late Wednesday while expressing “
deep concern
”.
I am deeply concerned by the scenes of violence in Northern Ireland, especially attacks on PSNI who are protecting the public and businesses, attacks on a bus driver and the assault of a journalist.
The way to resolve differences is through dialogue, not violence or criminality.
- Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) April 7, 2021
Fires have been reported on Lanark Way, where huge metal barriers separate Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods, according to the BBC correspondent.
“
Hundreds of people on each side threw Molotov cocktails
,” she tweeted.
The arrival of the police has considerably reduced the violence, she added.
Gates set alight at the peace line between between the Shankill Road and Lanark way interface in North Belfast.
Crowds of a few hundred on each side throwing petrol bombs over in both directions.
pic.twitter.com/LYnRmAETTY
- Emma Vardy (@EmmaVardyTV) April 7, 2021
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To read also: Northern Ireland: rising tension within the Unionist community
Specter of three bloody decades
Subway traffic in the area has been suspended, the Press Association reported.
Northern Irish Prime Minister Arlene Foster also denounced the violence: “
This is not a protest.
It's vandalism and attempted murder.
These actions do not represent unionism or loyalty.
"
Last week, violence first erupted in the city of Londonderry, before spreading to a loyalist neighborhood in and around Belfast over Easter weekend.
These incidents resurface the specter of three bloody decades of "
Troubles
" between Republicans and Unionists, which left 3,500 dead.
Northern Irish Protocol
The peace agreement signed in 1998 blurred the border between the British province and the Republic of Ireland, but Brexit weakened the delicate balance, requiring the introduction of customs controls between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
After tough negotiations, London and Brussels managed to agree on a solution: the
Northern Irish protocol
makes it possible to avoid a return to a physical border on the island of Ireland by moving controls in the
northern
ports. Irish.
(With
AFP)
►
To read also: Brexit: tensions resurface in the United Kingdom
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