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The chaotic scenes have stirred memories of decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict, known as “The Troubles.”
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Police form a line to separate Nationalists from attacking each other in North Belfast, Northern Ireland on April 9, 2021.
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The chaotic scenes have stirred memories of decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict, known as “The Troubles.” Young people have hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and set hijacked cars and a bus on fire during a week of violence on the streets of Northern Ireland. Police responded with rubber bullets and water cannons.
The streets were calmer on Friday night, as community leaders appealed for calm after the death of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s 99-year-old husband. But small gangs of youths pelted police with objects and set a car ablaze during sporadic outbreaks in Belfast.
What’s behind the latest unrest in Northern Ireland?
The chaotic scenes stir memories of decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict.
By JILL LAWLESSAssociated Press
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A firework explodes Wednesday as Nationalist and Loyalist rioters clash on Lanark Way in West Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Peter Morrison/Associated Press, file
LONDON Young people have hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and set hijacked cars and a bus on fire during a week of violence on the streets of Northern Ireland. Police responded with rubber bullets and water cannons.
The streets were calmer Friday night, as community leaders appealed for calm after the death of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II’s 99-year-old husband. But small gangs of youths pelted police with objects and set a car ablaze during sporadic outbreaks in Belfast.
Geographically, Northern Ireland is part of Ireland. Politically, it’s part of the United Kingdom. Ireland, long dominated by its bigger neighbour, broke free about 100 years ago after centuries of colonisation and an uneasy union. Twenty-six of its 32 counties became an independent, Roman Catholic-majority country. Six counties in the north, which have a Protestant majority, stayed British.
AP
British troops, in foreground, clash with demonstrators in a Catholic dominated area of Belfast, Northern Ireland on May 5, 1981. Northern Ireland’s Catholic minority experienced discrimination in jobs, housing and other areas in the Protestant-run state. In the 1960s, a Catholic civil rights movement demanded change, but faced a harsh response from the government and police. Some people on both the Catholic and Protestant sides formed armed groups that escalated the violence with bombings and shootings.
Young people have hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and set hijacked cars and a bus on fire during a week of violence on the streets of Northern Ireland. Police responded with rubber bullets and water cannons. The streets were calmer Friday night, as community leaders appealed for calm after the death of Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth II s 99-year-old husband. But small gangs of youths pelted police with objects and set a car ablaze during sporadic outbreaks in Belfast. The chaotic scenes have stirred memories of decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict, known as The Troubles. A 1998 peace deal ended large-scale violence but did not resolve Northern Ireland s deep-rooted tensions.
Saturday, 10 April, 2021 - 09:30
In this Wednesday, April 7, 2021 file photo, a firework explodes as Nationalist and Loyalist rioters clash with one another at the peace wall on Lanark Way in West Belfast, Northern Ireland. (AP) Asharq Al-Awsat
Young people have hurled bricks, fireworks and gasoline bombs at police and set hijacked cars and a bus on fire during a week of violence on the streets of Northern Ireland. Police responded with rubber bullets and water cannons.
The chaotic scenes have stirred memories of decades of Catholic-Protestant conflict, known as The Troubles. A 1998 peace deal ended large-scale violence but did not resolve Northern Ireland’s deep-rooted tensions.