A disturbing sight has returned to the Northern Ireland cities of Belfast and Derry, reminding mainland Brits of the three decades from 1969 when riots and bouts of terrorism marked the sectarian strife of "The Troubles.”
Almost every night since March 30, cars and coaches have been set alight, and youths — directed by loyalist paramilitary godfathers-turned-gangsters — have hurled petrol bombs. Close to 90 police officers have been injured.
The clashes followed a decision by Northern Ireland’s justice authorities not to prosecute 24 Sinn Fein politicians who last year attended a funeral for an IRA man, in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. Protestants loyal to the Union with Britain complained of an egregious example of "two-tier” policing favoring Catholic nationalists, while a crackdown on drug-dealing gangs associated with the loyalist paramilitaries has heightened tensions.
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