An unfortunate escalation of sectarian violence took place on the streets of west Belfast on 7 April 2021- the sixth successive day of protests that threaten a fragile and yet enduring peace in Northern Ireland. Disturbances had previously broken out in other loyalist areas in Belfast, in the Waterside district of Derry, and in some towns in County Antrim (Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey). All through the evening and night of 7 April, crowds gathered at the interface gates at Lanark Way, along the “Peace Wall” between the loyalist Shankill Road and nationalist Springfield Road neighbourhoods. People on either side hurled petrol bombs, fireworks, and heavy masonry at each other. Bins and tyres were set on fire, as was a bus that was hijacked nearby. Eight police officers were injured. The violence prompted the recall, during the Easter recess, of the power-sharing Northern Ireland Executive to Stormont, the Legislative Assembly of Northern Ireland. In a joint statement, issued on 8 April, ministers unanimously called for an end to the violence. gave their full support to policing, and reiterated their commitment to law and order.
Discontent has been brewing for some time among Northern Ireland’s loyalist communities. The predictable fall-out from an Irish Sea trade border created by the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement, coupled with controversy over the west Belfast funeral for Bobby Storey, a prominent member of the IRA, on 30 June 2020 in apparent violation of lockdown restrictions, are among the reasons for this flare-up of tensions. The funeral in question attracted over a thousand nationalists. Among those present were 24 Sinn Fein politicians, including Deputy First Minister Michelle O’ Neill. Loyalist anger was stoked by a perception of favouritism on the part of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) in authorising the funeral procession, and made worse by the decision by public prosecutors, announced on 20 March, not to prosecute the Sinn Fein politicians who attended.
The endless bickering over ex-Prime Minister Theresa May’s “Irish backstop” was conveniently overlooked as it reappeared surreptitiously in the “oven-ready” Withdrawal Agreement, which was “done”, as promised, by 31 December 2020. The UK’s withdrawal from the EU mandated the creation of an economic border between the two newly-divorced partners. But the 1998 Good Friday Agreement precluded a “hard border” of physical checks and infrastructure within the landmass of Ireland. This led to the curious situation of a de facto customs border within the Irish Sea, placing Northern Ireland in close alignment with the EU customs union for the next four years and imposing physical inspections and document checks on goods travelling from Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) to the disadvantaged province.
Early on, graffiti started appearing at Northern Irish ports, particularly Belfast, Larne and Warrenpoint, threatening Border Control Post officials as “targets” of violence, as well as on walls and lampposts in loyalist areas. The ports were subject to EU customs rules from 1 January 2021, ostensibly to prevent the “back-door entry” of British goods, bypassing tariffs, into the EU through the 310-mile-long land border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Sanitary and phytosanitary checks on food products (meat, fish, dairy products, eggs), plants, and live animals, created additional paperwork in the form of customs documents, interrupting the hitherto smooth flow of goods to Northern Irish supermarkets, farms, garden centres, and the like from the rest of the UK.
The events in Northern Ireland are troubling and bring back unpleasant memories of the thirty-year period of the “Troubles”, between the late 1960s and the 1990s. With any luck, the present outbreak of rioting will be short-lived and hopefully fizzle away. But many of the legacies of the Troubles linger on. Sectarian loyalties have yet to disappear, young people can still be mobilised into offensive action, and paramilitary groups continue to draw support from within their communities, however limited that support might be. A letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson from the Loyalist Communities Council on 4 March, temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 peace arrangement, has thus been taken seriously by all parties concerned . A sticking point is the feeling that Northern Ireland has been left unprepared to deal with the consequences of the Brexit trade deal. This makes renewed dialogue and skilful diplomacy essential, in the interests of maintaining the peace in a long-suffering Northern Ireland.
Ashis Banerjee