Northern Ireland: calm night in Belfast after a week of violence
Wreckage of a charred car in the streets of Belfast, Northern Ireland, April 9, 2021. AP - Peter Morrison
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4 min
Belfast spent its first quiet night in almost a week.
The capital, as well as other towns in Northern Ireland, is agitated by loyalist communities, who value their membership in the UK, because of Brexit and a sense of abandonment on the part of the elites.
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At the scene of the riots last week, signs were installed: "
Prayer to the loyalist community to postpone its demonstrations, in order to pay tribute to
Prince Philip
(who died this Friday, April 9, editor's note) and out of respect for the royal family .
A call to stay at home during the period of national mourning, launched by the Council of the Loyalist Community, a coalition of militant organizations.
This is their first speech
since the start of the violence
.
An effective appeal: hardly anyone in the streets of the city during the night of April 9 to 10, in front of the walls that separate the loyalist and republican districts.
No one except the community mediators, relieved to know the adolescents at home, without risking legal action or injury, reports
Emeline Vin
from Belfast.
In some neighborhoods, small groups threw stones at the police, deployed throughout the city.
Some points of tension therefore, but less conflictual than the previous days.
Other gatherings scheduled for the weekend across the province have yet to be canceled.
Complex repair work between Northern Ireland and the UK
For more than a week, the British province has been shaken by unprecedented violence for several years, especially in loyalist areas with a Protestant majority.
The consequences of leaving the European Union created a
feeling of betrayal and bitterness
within this community loyal to the British crown.
Faced with this escalation, Boris Johnson dispatched the Minister for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, to the site.
But the British Prime Minister's room for maneuver is narrow, especially as he does not have good relations with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Fein, in power in Northern Ireland, as Agnès Maillot, senior lecturer at Dublin City University, explains to
Anastacia Becchio
:
“
The DUP spoke out from the outset against any solutions for the UK's exit from the EU, which would imply a differentiated status for Northern Ireland.
They have therefore felt repeatedly betrayed by the Conservatives and particularly by Boris Johnson, who gives Northern Ireland a slightly different status from other parties in the United Kingdom.
We also have years of neglect in relation to certain disadvantaged neighborhoods in Northern Ireland, which feel left behind, betrayed by the peace process, by the Good Friday agreements.
And in addition, we also have those who refuse at all costs that we not only review the protocol, but who in addition continue to ask for a referendum on reunification etc.
All these Brexit negotiations have strained
relations between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom
.
So we will have to do a repair job in all directions, which will be very complicated for the Johnson administration at the moment.
"
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On the same subject
Violence in Northern Ireland: a new thorn in the side of Boris Johnson
Death of Prince Philip: rain of tributes in the UK and around the world