The abnormal nature of life in Northern Ireland is in full view. In what
other Western democracy could arterial routes be blocked every day for a
week; hospital staff ordered to produce identification to pass illegal
roadblocks; and children, pensioners and pregnant women assaulted or abused?
So few have been able to get away with so much. The Police Service of
Northern Ireland (PSNI) has allowed a handful of women and children to block
roads.
Had it been nationalists on the rampage for a day – let alone a week –
unionist politicians would be demanding an immediate security clamp-down.
For years, unionists have understandably highlighted continuing Provisional
IRA violence and Sinn Féin hypocrisy. But illegal activity in their own
backyard elicits a far more half-hearted response than that, across the
globe, in Colombia.
The big question is why the violence is happening now? Protestant alienation
from the political process and the increasing poverty, unemployment and low
educational attainment in loyalist areas, must be tackled – but they're not
new.
The Drumcree protest, which reflected similar discontentment, fizzled out.
Why did loyalists give up on Drumcree, only to now take a stand on the
Springfield Road?
One loyalist source says the disturbances are very much paramilitary-driven:
"The UVF is keen to reassert itself in loyalist areas. Being seen
organising riots and opening fire on police helps. The UDA is more or less
just following along."
Loyalist paramilitaries won't lack recruits. Many young people are loudly
voicing their desire to "stiff Taigs".
While unionists have been forced to swallow difficult symbolic changes in
recent times, the Union itself is safer than ever. Sinn Féin and the IRA
have effectively accepted partition.
The rise of the DUP means unionists are better represented politically than
ever. The violence will secure more funding for loyalist areas but it also
plays into Sinn Féin's hands.
Gerry Adams appears statesmanlike on Capitol Hill as the IRA decommissions
against a backdrop of loyalist thuggery. Yet there are drawbacks for Sinn
Féin.
In hardline areas like Ardoyne, loyalist violence makes IRA decommissioning
unpopular. And events in Protestant areas show this isn't a community ready
for a deal which puts Sinn Féin back in government.
