Northern Ireland

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Understanding Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’

More than twenty years after the Good Friday Agreement was signed, challenges remain for Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland long after the conflict ended.

https://education.cfr.org/learn/reading/understanding-northern-irelands-troubles?

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'Bloody Sunday' Trial

An ex-British paratrooper began a murder trial in Northern Ireland yesterday, the first prosecution tied to the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre. Thirteen people were killed and 15 wounded when soldiers opened fire on unarmed civil rights demonstrators—the deadliest shooting from decades of violence known as the Troubles.    "Soldier F," whose identity is protected, is the only regiment member to face trial. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. Sixteen other soldiers and two alleged Irish Republican Army members were not prosecuted due to insufficient evidence. The trial follows years of legal setbacks: The case was initially dropped after government claims of self-defense, which a 2010 review overturned, concluding troops had shot fleeing civilians and lied about it.   The Troubles (see overview) marked a violent conflict over Northern Ireland’s political status between pro-British, predominantly Protestant unionists and Catholic-majority Irish nationalists. Roughly 3,600 people were killed.

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Belfast Violence Continues

After anti-immigrant violence overtook the city of Belfast in Northern Ireland for a second night yesterday. Nationalist-populist influencers have called for unrest over an attack described online as an attempted beheading. The attack took place Monday, when a Sudanese-born suspect was filmed using what is believed to be a kitchen knife to hack at a white man in Belfast. The victim lost his eye and was hospitalized with serious injuries as of this writing. Anti-immigrant protests have since erupted, amplified by nationalist-populists including Tommy Robinson and billionaire Elon Musk. The protests turned violent, with people setting fire to buses, cars, and homes in immigrant neighborhoods (see footage). The family of the victim has denounced the riots, calling for any demonstrations to be peaceful.  The unrest comes days after the sentencing of a Sikh man over the murder of white teenager Henry Nowak. That attack has also sparked ethnic tensions, after police initially took the attacker’s allegations at face value; see background here.   ps:And of course who is interfering in other countries affairs?? But of course this administration!!!!!

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Thousands rally in Belfast to condemn anti-immigrant rioting that followed stabbing

LONDON (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Belfast on Saturday to denounce anti-immigrant rioters who set fire to homes and cars earlier in the week after a brutal stabbing blamed on an asylum seeker.

https://apnews.com/article/belfast-stabbing-riot-racism-immigrants-5c0e74588be3473370ad360081401a54?