{"id":117962,"date":"2021-04-09T15:12:03","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T07:12:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=117962"},"modified":"2021-04-09T15:12:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T07:12:06","slug":"belfast-in-turmoil-as-brexit-stokes-tensions-in-northern-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=117962","title":{"rendered":"Belfast in turmoil as Brexit stokes tensions in Northern Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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BELFAST, April 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rioters waged a running battle with police in Belfast on Thursday night \u2014 tossing petrol bombs, setting fires and dodging jets from water cannon as a week of unrest showed no sign of letting up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds of boys and young men gathered from early evening in a western neighbourhood in the Northern Ireland capital, which has been riven by violence over Brexit and domestic politics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Masked and in hooded tops, they hurled rocks, bricks and glass bottles at police barricades where riot officers formed ranks with armoured Land Rovers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Petrol bombs burst into flames in the street and fireworks were aimed into police formations, exploding and smothering their lines in thick smoke.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Behind riot shields and with batons drawn, police drove back the surging crowds late into Thursday night, as locals peered out of their windows to witness the spectacle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When one group tried to push a vandalised car into the police barricades, a lumbering water cannon forced them away with powerful spraying jets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A police loudhailer warned crowds to disperse or face arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cForce may be used,\u201d the female voice rang out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern Ireland was the site of \u201cThe Troubles\u201d sectarian conflict, which wound down in 1998 \u2014 but Brexit has been partially blamed for igniting old tensions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unrest started last week in the pro-UK unionist community, where tensions are high because of new post-Brexit rules some feel are dividing the region from Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the pro-Ireland nationalist community has begun to respond in scenes like those of Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nationalist and unionist communities in Belfast are often separated by towering \u201cpeace walls\u201d to guard against projectiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Wednesday there were ugly scenes when warring groups from unionist and nationalist communities faced off at a gate in the peace wall between their neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doors are etched with a slogan reading: \u201cThere was never a good war or a bad peace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the gates were pried open and rioters traded missiles in vicious confrontations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rising unrest has caused a political crisis in Northern Ireland, with the regional assembly recalled to address the violence on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his Irish counterpart Micheal Martin and US President Joe Biden have all called for calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile police have pleaded to those with \u201cinfluence\u201d in the community to hold back the crowds from participating in riots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Thursday dozens of older men and women stood at the gates where violence had flared the previous night and refused to let rioters approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small number of men dismantled a fire being started and blocked others approaching the gate with projectiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two amongst the crowd said they were concerned figures from the surrounding community \u2014 a sign that those who still remember \u201cThe Troubles\u201d are unwilling to let the region slide back into its dark past. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BELFAST, April 9 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rioters waged a running battle with police in Belfast on Thursday night \u2014 tossing petrol bombs, setting fires and dodging jets from water cannon as a week of unrest showed no sign of letting up. Hundreds of boys and young men gathered from early evening in a western neighbourhood in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":117963,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117962"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117962"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117962\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}