Northern Ireland Violence Worst In Decades; Fears Of "The Troubles" Return Sporadic rioting across several cities and towns in Northern Ireland has resulted in at least 70 injured police officers. The violence is some of the worst in decades as governments in Belfast, London, and Dublin have denounced the social unrest, according to BBC. Unrest broke out a week ago amid rising post-Brexit tensions. A more immediate catalyst was a decision a few weeks back by public prosecutors not to charge anyone with alleged breaches of COVID regulations at an IRA funeral that sparked unionist outrage. The unrest began on Mar. 29 in a small city in Northern Ireland called Londonderry. Since then, protests and rioting have spread to Belfast, Carrickfergus, Ballymena, and Newtownabbey. Source: BBC The rioting has mainly been loyalist youths hurling petrol bombs, bricks, and fireworks at police officers and their vehicles. But on Wednesday, the chaos intensified into sectarian fighting over a peace wall in west Belfast that separates Protestant loyalist communities from predominantly Catholic nationalist communities who want unification with Ireland. Source: BBC Irish nationalist and pro-British loyalists clashed at the peace wall, igniting fears about the revival of the "The Troubles," a dark period when both sides fought a low-level war against each other late 1960s to the late 1990s. The conflict claimed the lives of nearly 3,600 people as nationalists and unionists fought. At times, the conflict spilled over into the Republic of Ireland, England, and mainland Europe. "We are gravely concerned by the scenes we have all witnessed on our streets," the compulsory coalition, led by rival pro-Irish Catholic nationalists and pro-British Protestant unionists, wrote in a statement. "While our political positions are very different on many issues, we are all united in our support for law and order and we collectively state our support for policing," the statement continued. Northern Ireland's assistant chief constable, Jonathan Roberts, said several hundred people on both sides of the wall were responsible the violence, and he accused outlawed paramilitary groups of inciting it. "We saw young people participating in serious disorder and committing serious criminal offenses, and they were supported and encouraged, and the actions were orchestrated by adults at certain times," he said. "Last night was at a scale we haven't seen in Belfast or further afield in Northern Ireland for a number of years," Roberts said. In a https://twitter.com/PoliceFedforNI/status/1379893760063066112!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs");, the Police Federation for Northern Ireland called for calm, saying, "These are scenes we hoped had been confined to history." Violence on both sides of the interface at Lanark Way now. Calm is needed on BOTH sides of the gates before we are looking at a tragedy. These are scenes we hoped had been confined to history. https://twitter.com/NIPolicingBoard?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); https://twitter.com/NIOgov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); https://twitter.com/PoliceServiceNI?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); pic.twitter.com/SjtWq10UFo — Police Federation for Northern Ireland (@PoliceFedforNI) https://twitter.com/PoliceFedforNI/status/1379893760063066112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+"://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); Tensions in Northern Ireland have been growing since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, creating a potential trade border between the British-ruled north and the Republican of Ireland in the south. The lack of a trade border has been the main reason why a peace deal has remained in place since 1998. Under the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, a trade border was placed around the Irish Sea with goods entering Northern Ireland from mainland Britain subject to European Union checks. This move infuriated unionists, who have accused London of abandoning them. The British and Irish prime ministers held talks this week, while the Biden administration was concerned about the ongoing violence. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said, "The way to resolve difference is through dialogue, not violence or criminality." Meanwhile, Ireland's foreign minister, Simon Coveney, has called on local leaders to ease tensions. So far, there are no signs that the violence in Northern Ireland is slowing down. Tyler Durden Sat, 04/10/2021 - 07:35